%0 Journal Article
%T International Political Economy and the Crises of the 1970s: The Real 'Transatlantic Divide'
%A Julian Germann
%J Journal of Critical Globalisation Studies (JCGS)
%D 2011
%I Journal of Critical Globalisation Studies
%X Recent years have seen a renewed interest in the intellectual history of InternationalPolitical Economy (IPE). However, framed in terms of a growing divergence between an¡®American¡¯ and a ¡®British¡¯ school, the debate has done little more than rehash well-knownontological, epistemological, and methodological differences between problem-solvingand critical theory. This essay contends that situating the emergence of the field in thecontext of the crisis of the 1970s can do more to advance a critical review of the discipline.Conceived in a moment of crisis, IPE set out to address the fundamental question of howfar global capitalism could be collectively managed. Looking back to the 1930s, however,IPE failed to explain how the crisis of the 1970s would lead to the acceleration, ratherthan disruption, of capitalist globalisation. I argue that the neglect of this foundationalpuzzle undermines the ability of IPE to offer an integrated analysis of internationalcooperation and conflict. In light of the current crisis, this essay concludes, there is a moresignificant ¡®transatlantic divide¡¯ to pursue than the obvious epistemic divisions betweenAmerican and British IPE: namely, the strategic tensions between the United States andits European allies that emerged during the crisis years of the 1970s, and set the capitalistheartland on a path of deepening integration and multilaterally coordinated expansion.
%K IPE
%K Global Capitalism
%K Critical Theory
%K Globalization
%U http://www.criticalglobalisation.com/Issue4/10_22_IPE_CRISIS_JCGS4.pdf