New International Political Economy - Updated Concepts

Updated Concepts

As a neo-Marxist theory, IPE takes the approach that Marx's theory is outdated and needs to be modified to account for modern phenomena. Immanuel Wallerstein, a renowned sociologist and IPE scholar, greatly contributed to the updated concepts of Marx's theory that resulted in New International Political Theory.

• New World System/World systems theory: Immanuel Wallerstein is the pioneer of the world systems theory, which was created to understand the emergence of the third world and the relationships between rich and poor countries. The World systems theory is an application of Marx to international relations and the political economy. In Marx's time there were several European colonies, but currently every country in the world is integrated into one big system. The world systems theory focuses on international and exploitive relationships.

Wallerstein contributes to the Dependency theory by adding a new category of nations to the periphery and the core: the semi-periphery. Wallerstein asserts that there are three categories of nations: core (also known as metropolitan), periphery (also known as satellite), and semi-periphery. The core countries would be the upper class, who control the means of labor, the periphery countries would be the lower class who have to sell their labor, and the semi-periphery countries would act as the mediating middle class, countries who control and are controlled. Examples of current core, periphery, and semi-periphery countries would be The United States, Turkey, and Indonesia, respectively.

As a main proponent of the world systems theory, Wallerstein is largely responsible for the shaping of IPE under the critical paradigm, which asserts that forms of social inequality are socially constructed and therefore can be changed. Proponents of world systems theory regard it as a movement to induce global social change.

"The proponents of have been arguing that the social reality within which we live and which determines what our options are has not been the multiple national states of which we are citizens but something larger, which we call a world-system. We have been arguing that this system is a social creation, with a history, whose origins need to be explained, whose ongoing mechanisms need to be delineated, and whose inevitable terminal crisis needs to be discerned."

- Immanuel Wallerstein, World Systems Analysis: an Introduction

• Neo-colonialism: Another update to Marx's theory that contributes to IPE is the notion of neo-colonialism as indirect control through financial, political, and economic means. The term was introduced in the 1960s, but it had been articulated in Marxist circles since the 1920s. Gaining momentum in the 20th century, there has been an indirect, economic control of periphery countries by core countries through trade embargos, and other financial and economic arrangements. With these new and varied methods, direct military control is no longer necessary.

The military typically proceeds to create an economic disaster, often following the prescriptions of US advisers, and then decides to hand the problem over to civilians to administer. Overt military control is no longer necessary as new devices become available -- for example, controls exercised through the International Monetary Fund (which, like the World Bank, lends Third World nations funds largely provided by the industrial powers). In return for its loans, the IMF imposes "liberalization": an economy open to foreign penetration and control, sharp cutbacks in services to the general population, etc. These measures place power even more firmly in the hands of the wealthy classes and foreign investors ("stability") and reinforce the classic two-tiered societies of the Third World -- the super-rich (and a relatively well-off professional class that serves them) and an enormous mass of impoverished, suffering people. The indebtedness and economic chaos left by the military pretty much ensures that the IMF rules will be followed -- unless popular forces attempt to enter the political arena, in which case the military may have to reinstate "stability." - Noam Chomsky, What Uncle Sam Really Wants

The effects of neo-colonialism can be seen all over the world, from Brazil to Ghana. These countries may claim formal independence, but many domestic policies are still determined by external forces.

Another factor in neo-colonialism that has been of interest to sociologists is the 'comprador bourgeoisie' (or lumpenbourgeoisie), the social class who is involved with the demise of their countries through compliance with foreign interests. Dr. Stephen Burman of the University of Sussex explains that "...there is an alliance of interests between the representatives of international capital and indigenous bourgeoisie which is overseeing economic development. This takes the form of a comprador relationship in which the local bourgeoisie is tied more to the interests of its core than to its own country." The comprador bourgeoisie are essentially upper-class citizens who act as agents to sell out their country to international interests in exchange for personal gain and wealth. This allows the process of neo-colonialism to run more smoothly, without direct military control.