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Globalization (348-0-20)

Instructors

Stephen C Nelson
847 4912589
601 University Place # 238
Office Hours: http://www.polisci.northwestern.edu/people/core-faculty/stephen-nelson.html

Meeting Info

University Hall 122: Mon, Wed 3:30PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

This is a critical time for market globalization. In the past decade and a half, many countries' financial systems have experienced profoundly destabilizing shocks. The global distribution of economic and political power is shifting. Policymakers in the United States and elsewhere have grown increasingly skeptical of the efficacy and fairness of the international organizations charged with governing globalized markets. A nationalist-populist tide swept into the political scene in many countries in recent years. And, of course, the eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global diffusion of lockdowns to control the spread of the virus, and the attendant severe, synchronized economic downturns provoked many prominent observers, including the newly-appointed Chief Economist of the World Bank, Carmen Reinhart, to wonder if the pandemic is the "last nail in the coffin of globalization." This course is intended to take stock of market globalization in light of these integrating and fragmenting forces. What is market globalization? Are its effects on the economic fortunes of individuals and groups in historically rich countries different than the effects in developing countries? Has market globalization gone too far - or has it not gone far enough? These are the kinds of questions that will be discussed in the course. The course is organized around five main topics: (1) conceptualizing market globalization; (2) describing transformations in the constituent parts of market globalization (international trade, globalized production, finance, and labor migration); (3) exploring how different national styles of capitalism in the historically rich Northern countries have adjusted to pressures generated by "deeper" forms of market globalization; (4) the relationship between market globalization, economic development, and global inequality; (5) exploring the challenges to globalization posed by the recent rise of nationalist-populist ideologies in many countries and the fragmenting effects of the COVID-19 public health crisis and global economic downturn.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course students will:


  • Deepen their understanding of the historical and political foundations of modern market globalization;

  • Better understand how global markets for trade, production, financial assets, and labor are (and are not) governed;

  • Gain exposure to the case study method used by faculty and students at Harvard Business School;

  • Work alongside colleagues to master the granular details and big-picture takeaways from four complex, challenging cases - each of which are connected to key themes connected to the central topic of the course, market globalization;

  • Improve their abilities to use analytical frameworks and empirical evidence when talking and writing about important debates over market globalization.

Teaching Method

Lectures, full-group case discussions, TA-led discussion sections

Evaluation Method

Course participation: 10%
Critical response paper on assigned reading (1): 5%
Case reading-based short précis-style writing exercises (2): 20%
Midterm exam: 30%
Final exam: 35%

Class Materials (Required)

Students are asked to purchase up to 5 case readings used in courses in the Business, Government, and the International Economy unit at Harvard Business School. PDFs for each case cost $8.95. If the cost to purchase the case readings is prohibitively expensive students are encouraged to contact Professor Nelson for assistance.

Associated Classes

DIS - Parkes Hall 215: Wed 5:00PM - 5:50PM

DIS - Parkes Hall 212: Wed 5:00PM - 5:50PM

DIS - Parkes Hall 212: Thurs 12:00PM - 12:50PM

DIS - Locy Hall 109: Thurs 12:00PM - 12:50PM