July 2022 Note: The semester has been reduced from 16 weeks to 15 teaching weeks which will just

minorly reduce the content from the last learning unit.

Course Title Political Economy

Programme Title Bachelor of Arts

Specialisation Economics

Mode M1 Level L2

Course ID Credits 4

Course Type Core Semester 3

Version 1.2 Academic Year 2021-22

Course Development Team Kade Finnoff, Rahul De, and Surbhi Kesar

Rationale

The political economy course is a required core course for Economics students. It provides an
introduction to alternative theoretical perspectives within Economics. This course is a survey
course that introduces students to alternative theoretical traditions in Economics, including
Marxian, Institutionalist, Post-Keynesian and Feminist thought, and then uses insights from these
traditions to analyse real world phenomenon, such as economic crisis, globalisation, ecological
challenge, inequality, discrimination, among others. Each learning unit will introduce students to
key concepts and theoretical frameworks of different schools of thought and applying these
frameworks, theoretical tools, and data to examine contemporary phenomenon. This course will
employ a modified team-based learning approach with interactive mini lectures, in-class group
exercises and datalabs.

Prerequisites
Introduction to Economics 1 & II

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Intended Learning Objectives

By the end of the course students will be able to:

1) Explain the key theoretical concepts and insights of alternate schools of thought / theoretical
traditions in economics.
2) Critically evaluate contemporary phenomenon from though the lens of these alternate
traditions.
3) Demonstrate a level of comfort using economic and social data to analyse contemporary
economic problems.

Syllabus & Readings

The aim of this course is to provide a broad introduction to different alternate theoretical
approaches and methodologies to study economic processes in a variety of market and non-market
settings. This course will be divided into two main parts. Part I comprises three learning units and
provides an overview and the historical context of the development of different alternate
theoretical paradigms in Economics. Units 1 introduces students to the method of political economy
and the historical and theoretical basis for development of these alternate paradigms. Unit 2 covers
keys concepts in Marxian economics, while Unit 3 covers the concepts in Institutional, Post-
Keynesian, and Feminist Economics. Part II of the course then employs insights and the theoretical
framework of these different schools of thought to analyse contemporary economic processes. This
part comprises two units and analyses the processes of discrimination, inequality, economic crisis,
globalisation and neo-liberalism, dispossession, and post-colonial development, and ecology and
development. The following readings are suggested readings; the final set of readings will be
decided in the beginning of the semester.

PART I: Different school of thoughts in political economy

Unit 1 – Introduction to political economy: History and Method [1.5 weeks]

In this unit, the students will be introduced to different schools of thought in political economy, the
historical and key theoretical differences between these different schools, and the implications of
employing these different theoretical understandings for analysing the real world economic

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processes.

Required readings:
● Standford, Jim. 2008. Chapter 4: The Politics of economics, in Economics for Everyone (pp.
52-64). London and Ann Arbor: Pluto Press
● Wolff, Richard and Stephen Resnick. 2012. Chapter 1: Three different theories, in
Contending Economic Theories: Neoclassical, Keynesian, and Marxian (pp. 1-48). London and
Cambridge: MIT press. [selected parts]
● Gordon, David M. 1987. Left, Right, and Center: An Introduction to political economy, in
Robert Cherry et al., eds., The Imperiled Economy, Book II (pp. 9-24). Union for Radical
Political Economics.
Optional readings:
● Sackrey, Charles, Geoffrey Schneider, and Janet Knoedler. 2005. Chapter 1: The political
economy challenge to mainstream economics, in Introduction to Political Economy, 4th
edition, (pp. 1-24). Boston: Economic Affairs Bureau.
● Randy, Albelda and Robert Drago. 2013. Chapter 6 in Unlevel Playing Fields, 4th edition (pp:
58-98). Boston: Dollars & Sense
Further readings of interest
● Marx, Karl. 1973. Method of political economy, in the Introduction to Grundrisse. Penguin
Books (in association with New Left Review).
● Pietrykowski, Bruce. 2000. A primer in political economy, in Ron Baiman, Heather Boushey,
and Dawn Saunders, eds., Political Economy and Contemporary Capitalism: Radical
Perspectives on Economic Theory and Policy (pp. 13-20). Armonk, NY: ME Sharpe.
● Bowles, Samuel, Richard Edwards, and Frank Roosevelt. Understanding Capitalism, Chapter
8 (pp. 82-96). Oxford University Press.
● Hahnel, Robin. 2002. The ABCs of Political Economy: A Modern Approach. London: Pluto
Press. [selected parts]

Unit 2: Marxian economics [3 weeks]

In this Unit, the students will be introduced to key concepts in Marxian Economics, such as class,
value, surplus, accumulation. While the first part of the unit will discuss these as abstract concepts,
the second part of the unit will employ these for understanding certain concrete economic

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processes.

Required readings
● Wolff, Richard and Stephen Resnick. 2012. Chapter 4: Marxian theory, in Contending
Economic Theories: Neoclassical, Keynesian, and Marxian (pp. 133-238). London and
Cambridge: MIT press. [selected parts]
● Fine, Ben and Alfredo Saad-Filho. 2004. Marx’s Capital, Fourth edition. London and Sterling,
Virginia: Pluto Press. [selected parts]
● Marglin, Stephen A., 1974. What do bosses do? The origins and functions of hierarchy in
capitalist production. Review of Radical Political Economics, 6(2): 60-112. [selected parts]
● Schor, Juliet B. 1991. Chapter 3: “The Life at hard labour:” Capitalism & working hours, in
The Overworked American (pp. 42-82). Basic Books.
● Barrett, Rowena. 2005. Chapter 4: Managing the software development labor process, in
Rowena Barret, eds., Management, Labour Process, and Software Development Process (pp.
68-86). Oxon and New York: Routledge
Optional readings
● Tucker, Robert C. (ed.). 1978. The Marx-Engels Reader, second edition. W.W. Norton and
Company [selected parts]
● Harvey, David. 2010. A Companion to Marx’s Capital. London and New York: Verso. [selected
parts]
Further readings of interest
● Marx, K.arl Capital, Volume 1 (unabridged). New York: International Publishers.

Unit 3: Other alternate schools of thought in political economy: Institutionalist Economics,

Post-Keynesian Economics, Feminist Economics [3.5 weeks]
This unit introduces the students to the basic theoretical framework and key concepts of other
alternate schools of thought in political economy, namely Institutional, Post-Keynesian, and
Feminist economics. Apart from Marxian economics, these schools have been the most influential

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within non-mainstream paradigm in informing and shaping the political economy discourse. By the
completion of Units 2 and 3, students will be expected to understand the key concepts and
theoretical framework in these major alternate political economy schools of thought.

3. 1: Institutionalist Economics [ 1 week]

Required readings
● Dugger, William M. 1998. Radical institutionalism: Basic concepts, Review of Radical Political
Economics, 20(1): 1-20.
● Polanyi, Karl. 1957. The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our
Time, pp. 43-76, and “Foreword” by Joseph Stiglitz (pp. vii-xvii) and “Introduction” by Fred
Block (pp. xviii-xxxviii). Boston: Beacon Press.
Optional readings:
● Sackrey, Charles, Geoffrey Schneider, and Janet Knoedler. 2005. Thorstein Veblen and the
Predatory Nature of Contemporary Capitalism, in Introduction to Political Economy, fourth
edition, (pp. 83-104). Boston: Economic Affairs Bureau.
● Sackrey, Charles, Geoffrey Schneider, and Janet Knoedler. 2005. “John Kenneth Galbraith
and the Theory of Social Balane,” in Introduction to Political Economy, fourth edition, (pp.
159-84). Boston: Economic Affairs Bureau.
Further readings of interest
● Geoffrey M. Hodgson. 1998. Institutional economic theory: The old versus the new, in D. L.
Prychitko, eds., Why Economists Disagree: An Introduction to Alternative Schools of Thought,
(pp. 155-77). Albany: State University of New York Press.
● Veblen, Thorstein. 1898. Why is economics not an evolutionary Science? Quarterly Journal of
Economics, 12: 373-397.
● Wilber, Charles K. and Robert S. Harrison, 1978. The methodological basis of institutional
economics: Pattern model, storytelling, and holism. Journal of Economic Issues, 12(1): 61-89.

3.2: Post Keynesian Economics [1 week]

Required readings

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 ● Keynes, John M. 1936. General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, Chapter 12.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
● Kalecki, Michael. 1943. Political aspects of full employment, Political Quarterly (pp.1-5).
Optional readings
● Sackrey, Charles, Geoffrey Schneider, and Janet Knoedler. 2005. John Maynard Keynes and
the turbulent birth of macroeconomics, in Introduction to Political Economy, fourth edition,
(pp. 105-130). Boston: Economic Affairs Bureau.
● Robinson, Joan. 1977. What are the questions? Journal of Economic Literature, 15(4), 1318-
1339.
Further readings of interest
● Hyman P. Minsky. 1977. The financial instability hypothesis: An interpretation of Keynes
and an alternative to “standard” theory. Nebraska Journal of Economics and Business, 16(1):
5-16.

3.3: Feminist Economics [1.5 weeks]

Required readings
● Nelson, Julie. Feminism and economics, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 9(2): 131-148
(1995)
● Mies, Maria. 1986. Chapters 2: Social origins of the sexual division of labor, in Patriarchy and
Accumulation on a World Scale (pp. 44-71). London: Zed Books
● Ehrenreich, Barabra. 2002. Maid to Order, in Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell
Hoscschild, eds., Global Women (pp. 85-103). New York: Holt Paperbacks.
● Folbre, Nancy, and Julie A. Nelson. 2000. For Love or Money--Or Both? Journal of Economic
Perspectives, 14 (4): 123-140.
Optional readings
● Benería, Lourdes. 1979. Reproduction, production and the sexual division of
labour. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 3(3): 203-225.
● Hartman, Heidi. The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism: Towards a more
progressive union, in Lydia Sargent, ed., Women and Revolution (pp. 1-33). South End
Process.
● Matthaei, Julie. 1992. Marxist-feminist contributions to radical economics, in Bruce Roberts
and Susan Feiner, eds., Radical Economics (pp. 117-144). Dordrecht: Springer

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Further readings of interest
● Folbre, Nancy. 1982. Exploitation comes home: A critique of the Marxian theory of family
labour, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 6(4): 317-29.
● S. Charusheela and Eiman O. Zein-Elabdin, Feminism, Postcolonial Thought, and Economics,
in eds., Marianne. A. Ferber and Julie. A. Nelson, Feminist Economics Today: Beyond
Economic Man, 175-92 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003
● Federici, Silvia. Caliban and the Witch. Chapter 2: Accumulation of labor and the
Degradation of Women and Chapter 4: The Great Witch-Hunt in Europe (pp. 61-115 and
163-206). New York: Autonomedia.

PART II: Understanding contemporary global economy through the lens of alternative
theoretical traditions

Unit 4: Understanding contemporary process of discrimination, economic crisis, and

inequality [3 weeks]

In this unit, we will employ the concepts and understandings of alternate theoretical traditions
discussed in Part I to study the processes of discrimination, economic crisis, and inequality. We
employ insights from Marxian and Feminist economics to understand the process of discrimination,
from Marxian, Feminist and Post-Keynesian perspectives to analyse the process of economic crisis,
and from Marxian, Institutionalist, Post-Keynesian and Feminist perspectives to study the issue of
inequality. Through this, the students will be trained to employ these alternate theoretical
frameworks for understanding contemporary processes.

4.1: Discrimination [1 week]

Required readings
● Reich, Michael, David M. Gordon, and Richard C. Edward. 1973. A theory of labor market
segmentation. The American Economic Review, 63(2): 359-365.
● Figart, Deborah M. 1997. Gender as More Than a Dummy Variable: Feminist Approaches to
Discrimination. Review of Social Economy, 55(1), 1-32.
● Neve, Geert De. 2005. Weaving for IKEA in South India: Subcontracting, Labour Markets and
Gender Relations in a Global Value Chain, in, Jackie Assayag and Chris Fuller (eds.)
Globalizing India: Perspectives from Below, (pp. 89–116). Anthem Press.

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Optional and data replication readings:
● Centre for Sustainable Employment (CSE). 2018. State of Working India. Bengaluru: CSE.
[selected parts]
● Harriss-White, Barbara. Social discrimination in India: A case for economic citizenship.
Oxfam Working Paper Series.
● William A. Darity. 2005. Stratification economics: The role of intergroup inequality.” Journal
of Economics and Finance, 29(2): 144-53
● Deshpande, Ashwini. 2002. assets versus autonomy? The changing face of the gender-caste
overlap in India. Feminist Economics, 8:2: 19-35
● Duraisamy, P. and Malathy Duraisamy. 2017. Social identity and wage discrimination in the
Indian labour market. Economic and Political Weekly. LII(4): 51-60.
● Vaid, Divya. 2012. The caste-class association in India: An empirical analysis. Asian
Survey, 52(2): 395-422

4.2: Economic Crisis [1 week]

Required readings
● Resnick, Stephen and Wolff Richard. 2010. The economic crisis: A Marxian interpretation,
Rethinking Marxism, 22(2): 170-86.
● Fraser, Nancy. 2016. Contradictions of Capital and Care, New Left Review, 100: 99-117.
Optional readings
● Shaikh, Anwar. 1978. An introduction to the history of crisis theories, in US Capitalism in
Crisis (pp. 219-41). New York: URPE and Monthly Review Press.
● Boddy, Raford. and James Crotty. 1975. Class conflict and macro-policy: The political
business cycle. Review of Radical Political Economics, 7(1): 1–19.
Further readings of interest
● Patnaik, Prabhat. 2009. The economic crisis and contemporary capitalism. Economic and
Political Weekly, 44(13): 47-54.
● Kindleberger, Charles. 2002. Manias, Panics and Crisis: A History of Financial Crisis, 4th
edition. London: Palgrave McMillan.
● Ghosh, Jayati. 2011. Financial crises and the impact on women: A historical note, in Nalini
Visvanathan, Lynn Duggan, Nan Wiegersma and Laurie Nisonoff (eds) The Women, Gender
and Development Reader, Second edition (pp. 22-27). London: Zed Books 2011.

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4.3: Inequality [1 week]

Required readings
● Stockhammer, Engelbert. 2015. Rising inequality as a cause of the present crisis, Cambridge
Journal of Economics, 39(3): 935–958
● Chancel, Lucas, and Thomas Piketty. 2019. Indian Income Inequality, 1922‐2015: From
British raj to billionaire raj? Review of Income and Wealth, 65: S33-S62.
● Duménil, Gerard and Dominique Lévy. 2004. Neoliberal income trends: Wealth, class, and
ownership in the USA. New Left Review, 30: 105-33
Optional readings
● Folbre, Nancy. 2018. Care penalty and gender inequality, in Susan L. Averett, Laura M.
Argys, and Saul D. Hoffman (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Women and the Economy. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
● Basole, Amit. 2014. Dynamics of income inequality in India: insights from world top
incomes database. Economic and Political Weekly, 49(40): 14-17.
Videos
● INET video ‘Inequality 101’ with Arjun Jayadve and Branco Milanovich
https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/videos/inequality-101
● Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) video. Joe Stigliz and Winnie Byanyima discuss
‘Redefining Inequality’: https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/videos/redefining-
inequality
Further readings of interest
● Ruccio, David F. 2020. The United States of inequality. Real World Economics Review, 92: 33-
47.

Unit 5: Understanding contemporary process of globalisation and neo-liberalism, ecology,

and accumulation and dispossession [4 weeks]

In this unit, we will employ the concepts and understandings of the alternate theoretical traditions
discussed in Part I to study the processes of globalisation and neo-liberalism, ecology and
development, and accumulation and dispossession in the Global South. The understandings of these
processes have been widely contested and are central understanding the contemporary global

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economic order.

5.1 Globalization and Neoliberalism [ 1.5 weeks]

Required readings
● Milanovic, Branko. 2003. Two faces of globalization: Against globalization as we know it.
World Development, 31(4): 667-683.
● Chang, Ha-Joon. 2004. Kicking away the ladder: The “real” history of free trade, FPIP Special
Report, Foreign Policy in Focus, 2003.
● Chan, Jenny, Ngai Pun, and Mark Selden. 2013. The politics of global production: Apple,
Foxconn and China’s new working class. New Technology, Work and Employment, 28(2):
100-115.
● Harvey, David. 2005. A Brief History of Neoliberalism, Chapters 1 and 3, (pp. 5-38 and 64-
86). Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.

Optional readings
● Shaikh, Anwar. 2007. Globalization and the myth of free trade, in Anwar Shaikh, ed.,
Globalization and the Myth of Free Trade: History, Theory, and Empirical Evidence (pp. 51-
68). New York: Routledge.
● Hale, Angela and Jane Willis (eds). 2005. Threads of Labour, Chapters 3 and 4 (pp. 16-68).
Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

5.2: Ecology and capitalism [1 week]

Required readings
● Moore, Jason W. 2011. Transcending the metabolic rift: A theory of crises in the capitalist
world-ecology. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 38(1): 1-46
● Harvey, David. 2014. Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism, Chapter 16 (pp.
246-263). Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
Optional readings
● Foster, John Bellamy. 2002. Capitalism and ecology. Monthly Review.

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 ● Ostrom, Elinor. 1990. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective
Action, Chapter 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Further readings of interest
● Boyce, James K. 1994. Inequality as a cause for environmental degradation. Ecological
Economics, 11(3): 169-178
● Hahnel, Robin. 2011. Green Economics – Confronting the Ecological Crisis. Armonk, New
York& London, England: M.E. Sharpe.
● Moore, Jason. 2015. Capitalism in the Web of Life: Ecology and Accumulation of Capital.
London and New York: Verso Books.
● Moore, Jason. 2018. The capitalocene part II: Accumulation by appropriation and the
centrality of unpaid work/energy”, Journal of Peasant Studies, 45(2): 237-279.

5.3: Accumulation, dispossession, and the Global South [1.5 weeks]

Required readings
● Mike Davis. 2004. Planet of slums, New Left Review, 26: 5-34.
● David Harvey. 2003. The New Imperialism, Chapter 4 (pp. 137-82). Oxford and New York:
Oxford University Press.
● Sanyal, Kalyan. 2007. Rethinking Capitalist Development: Primitive Accumulation,
Governmentality and the Post-colonial Capitalism, Chapter 2. New Delhi and UK: Routledge.
[Selected parts]
Optional readings
● Ghosh, Jayati. 2012. Accumulation strategies and human development in India. Agrarian
South: Journal of Political Economy, 1 (1): 43‐64.
● Marx, Karl. Capital, Volume 1 (unabridged), Chapter 26 and 27. New York: International
Publishers.

Teaching methods

The course will be taught using mixed approach with lectures and team-based learning (TBL)
applications, which structures student learning through small groups that work together
throughout the semester. TBL emphasizes student preparation outside of the classroom and

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application of knowledge within the classroom. Assessment occurs at both an individual level and
group level, and includes peer assessment of individual contribution to group work. TBL has been
found to be an effective pedagogical strategy for enhancing student learning outcomes, address
student skill and language diversity within the classroom, promote student engagement, improve
effective communication skills, and enhance metacognition (see, Michaelsen, L.K., Knight, A.B., and
Fink, L.D (eds), 2004, and Team-Based Learning: A transformative Use of Small Groups in College
Teaching. Stylus Publishing, LLC. Sterling, VA.). Weekly datalabs will be run where student teams
complete data application exercises.

Evaluation and grading

Participation and attendance: 10%

Participation includes attendance, engagement in activities and team work. In a democratic
classroom all voices are important, and supporting each other to succeed is crucial. The students
will be encouraged to share their thoughts, to encourage their fellow classmates, and to help each
other learn.

Annotated bibliography and personal response: 25%

The response will be due each week on Moodle. It will comprise three parts: (i) Citation: Students
will be required to choose a format and follow this consistently throughout the course (APA or MLA
are most commonly used.) (ii) Summary style of annotated bibliography: A paragraph summary of
the major arguments made by the reading or video. (iii) A paragraph personal response: This
requires the students to relate the material with previous academic or personal experience to
demonstrate your engagement with the topic.
Additional resources and examples of annotated bibliographies:
http:// guides.library.cornell.edu/ annotatedbibliography
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/ handouts/annotated-bibliographies

In-class Assessments: 45%

There will be two in-class exams covering definitions, basic concepts, and application based
questions.

Team based learning (TBL) project: 20%

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The students will be required to write and compile a ‘Political Economy Guide to the Indian
Economy’. Each learning unit will have mandatory sections which will be started within class time.
Each chapter will involve explanation of political economy concepts, using data to visually
represent an economic phenomenon, and lastly a comic strip to visually engage your audience.

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