Contents of the subject

The course will begin by examining the emergence of industrial capitalism, and the debate about its origins. It will then look at how the development of capitalism can be divided into phases by considering the organisation of work, the structure of the firm, the functions of the state, the nature of the monetary and financial system, and the role of trade and the world market. A major part of the course will be concerned with the specific features of the new phase of capitalism which began to emerge in the 1980s. This includes the role of global financial markets, the importance of multinational corporations, and the emergence of major economic powers in the developing world. It will also consider whether the impact of the major international crisis in 2007-2008, and the massive response to the Covid-19epidemic augur a significant shift away from the neoliberal phase of capitalism. A key concern throughout the course will be to identify the interaction between economic and political factors in driving capitalist development.

Provisional programme:

1. The origins of capitalism in European feudalism

2. The principal phases of capitalism since the industrial revolution

3. Money & capital: a brief introduction to Marxian political economy

4. The capitalist labour process: from manufacture to post-Fordism

5. The rise and fall of the post-war 'Golden Age'

6. Finance led capitalism and the re-emergence of financial instability

7. The capitalist firm, multinational companies and international value chains

8. The role of the state in modern capitalism

9. Privatisation and the creation of new spheres of private accumulation

10. The world market & modern imperialism

11. The polarisation of income and wealth

12. Energy, raw materials and climate change

13. The economic and environmental crisis

14. Models of capitalism; alternative social models

Qualification aims of the subject

To understand how capitalism has developed and changed since the time of the industrial revolution and to examine in detail the economic and political characteristics of the new phase of capitalism that began in the 1980s.
Students will gain an understanding of the specific ways in which politics and economics interact in a capitalist economic system, of how this system is in a process of continual change, and the role that conflict plays, both within and between countries, in driving economic and social development.

The nature of the examination / requirements for the award of credit points

Assessment methods and criteria: Written assignment (4,000 words). If students fail the first exam, the type of the second and third exam will be a written assignment (4000 words) or an oral examination (up to 30 minutes).

Additional information

Teaching and learning forms

Lecture & discussion plus group work based on pre-circulated texts.

Participation requirements

All courses of the 1st semester of the MA International Economics or the MA Political Economy of European Integration or MA LPG