I have two things here that may interest many, ranging from those who are semi-curious about IPE to the hardcore IPE junkies. Professor Benjamin Cohen over at UC-Santa Barbara has just released a new book entitled International Political Economy: An Intellectual History from the Princeton University Press This book traces the roots of the rapidly growing field, including the pioneering work of authors such as Robert Cox, Robert Gilpin, Peter Katzenstein, Robert Keohane, Charles Kindleberger, Stephen Krasner, and Susan Strange. It tracks the development of the IPE field from the foundations set by these renowned authors to the present time. You can read excerpts from the book's introduction online as well. Of course, I highly recommend the What is IPE? introduction that I feature in a tab at the top right corner of the blog if you'd like a general overview of the subject as opposed to a history of the field like what Cohen offers.Next, there is an upcoming event down the road at the University of Warwick featuring Professor Cohen going mano-a-mano with his British interlocutors. There is a longstanding debate about the differences between American- and British-style IPE that cleaves into objective-subjective, etic-emic, quantitative-qualitative, and nomothetic-ideographic dimensions. Cohen raised the issue of a transatlantic divide in an issue of the Review of International Political Economy that subsequently ruffled some feathers in the British IPE community. Richard Higgott and Matthew Watson at Warwick took umbrage, as did John Ravenhill at Australia National University. To these criticisms Cohen made a rejoinder. Round 2 of this transatlantic showdown get underway on May 12 at Warwick. If this sort of intellectual battle royale is your sort of thing, come along as this is an open event. Details follow:
The Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick announces a public debate on the future of IPE, involving Professor Benjamin Cohen of the University of California, Santa Barbara, who will be talking about and promoting his new book, International Political Economy: An Intellectual History (Princeton University Press, 2008). The event originates in the publication in the Review of International Political Economy of Professor Cohen's recent article on the Transatlantic Divide in IPE. It will take the form of a roundtable, to be chaired by Mark Blyth of Johns Hopkins University and one of the current editors of RIPE, and in addition to Professor Cohen it will also involve Richard Higgott and Matthew Watson from the University of Warwick, who have published a response in RIPE to Professor Cohen's original piece.
There is no entrance charge for attending the debate, so this message constitutes an open invitation for all to attend. It will take place on Monday 12th May between 4.00 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. in Lecture Theatre MS.03 in the Zeeman (Maths) Building. The location of this building can be found on the University of Warwick campus map - http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/about/visiting/maps/central/ - and it is building number 35 in zone F4. Information about how to get to the University of Warwick is also included in links from that web page. The University Bookshop, in collaboration with Princeton University Press, will create a stall in the lecture theatre in order to sell copies of Professor Cohen's new book throughout the afternoon.
We look forward to seeing as many people as possible at the event.
