Britain in a Changing Global Political Economy - POL00096M

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Module summary

The impact of and responses to the global financial crisis and, more recently, Britain's decision to leave the European Union have arguably served to politicise a series of key issues in British political economy that appeared previously to be surrounded by relative consensus. This module draws attention to this process of politicisation and aims to give students the tools to engage emerging debates about Britain's place in the global political economy critically and with conceptual and empirical rigour.

Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Semester 2 2025-26

Module aims

The aim of this module is to give students the conceptual tools and substantive knowledge required to interrogate critically and systematically a range of issues related to Britain’s place in the contemporary global political economy. Students are encouraged to demonstrate and apply theoretical and substantive knowledge as we examine the interaction between British economic governance and the changing global political economy via a series of thematically organised seminar topics.

Each of the issues covered in the module speaks to a central theme in contemporary International and Comparative Political Economy: the apparent emergence of a series of tensions between globalization, transnationalism and neoliberalism, on the one hand, and the resurgence of nationalism, protectionism and populism on the other. Within this context, the course addresses questions including: did globalisation cause Brexit? What impact did the financial crisis have on the power of the City of London? What is Britain’s role in European integration and disintegration? What is the future of the British growth model? How should we understand Britain’s place in the global trade regime?

Students are encouraged to explore these questions through conceptual lenses from Political Economy that point to the central role of power, interests, institutions and ideas in economic governance at the sub-national, national, regional and global levels. By the end, students will have a firm grasp of the use of these concepts in International and Comparative Political Economy and substantive knowledge of how these relate to key issues and debates around Britain’s place in the contemporary global political economy.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students will be able to:

• Engage, understand and identify the most important aspects of the relationship between Britain and the contemporary global political economy, taking account of conceptual tools from Comparative and International Political Economy.
• Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of literature relating to key aspects of Britain’s place in the contemporary global political economy.
• Apply different concepts to specific questions about Britain’s place in the global political economy, and use intellectual reasoning and systematic empirical testing to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses.
• Construct and clearly present an essay-length written reflection that effectively communicates sustained analysis and empirical and conceptual engagement in relation to key questions about Britain’s place in the Global Political Economy.
• Engage with different points of view, thinking and communicating as academic citizens in ways that help to foster the inclusive sharing of ideas.

Indicative assessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100.0

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100.0

Module feedback

Students will receive written timely feedback on their formative assessment. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their feedback during the module tutor’s feedback and guidance hours.

Students will receive written feedback on their summative assessment no later than 20 working days; and the module tutor will hold a specific session to discuss feedback, which students can also opt to attend. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their feedback during the module tutor’s regular feedback and guidance hours.

Indicative reading

• Crouch, C. (2018). The Globalization Backlash. New York, Wiley.
• Hay, C. and T. Hunt, Eds. (2018). The Coming Crisis. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
• Diamond, P., Nedergaard, P. and Rosamond, B., Eds. (2018). The Routledge Handbook of the Politics of Brexit. London, Routledge.
• Rodrik, D. (2018). "Populism and the Economic of Globalization." Journal of International Business Policy 1: 12-33.
• Thompson, H. (2017). "Inevitability and Contingency: The Political Economy of Brexit." British Journal of Politics and International Relations 19(3): 434-449.
• Rosamond, B. (2019). "Brexit and the Politics of UK Growth Models." New Political Economy 24(3): 408-421.