Please register via STADS-Self-Service between 1st-15th April 2017 and 1st-15th May. PLEASE NOTICE! This course cannot replace courses which you are already registered.

If you are an international student or from another university in Denmark the application deadline is May 1st 2017. Follow this link to the application form.

Master students of

Global Studies

Internationale development studies

Forvaltning

International public administration and politics

Politik og administration

Overall content

Modern mainstream economic theory is based on highly political assumptions, which are rarely challenged: dogmas of deregulation, mathematical models and austerity are treated as objective scientific facts, rather than ideological tools with a social and political history of their own. This course aims to repoliticize the study of economics and challenge the hegemony of neoclassical economic theory. This will be accomplished through a historical examination of the development of economic thought, and critical engagement with original economic texts. As such, the course objective is to understand the varied historical effect of these theories on both the object of study and the discipline itself.

The first part of the course “Economic Thought from Oikos to Economics” traces the history of economic ideas with an emphasis on critical and heterodox approaches. The individual sessions will introduce students to carefully selected primary literature from classical, critical and heterodox strands of economic thought. The objective is to understand the varied historical effect of these theories on both the object of study and the discipline itself. This will provide the foundation for further elaboration on contemporary issues such as debt, unemployment, inequality, and growth.

The second part of the course “Contemporary Challenges, Critiques and Alternatives” addresses present and pressing issues, through the lens of critical and heterodox political economy. This theoretical and applied pluralism will provide insights on issues such as e.g. the development crisis, financialisation, austerity politics and climate change, that are not conceptually possible if stricking to mainstream approaches. Through the employment of recent critiques, latter section of the course offers potential pathways towards different conceptualisations and alternatives to ‘the economy’ as we know it.

Staff:
Jesper Jespersen Mikkel Flohr Peter Nielsen Laura Horn (course responsible, lhorn@ruc.dk )

Guest seminars:
Bob Jessop (Lancaster) Ngai-Ling Sum (Lancaster) Jean-Claude Simon (Transform! Europe)

Secretariat: summerschool2017@ruc.dk

The course objective is to

• introduce student carefully selected primary literature from classical, critical and heterodox strands of economic thought
• provide students with a thorough understanding of core concepts and debates in critical political economy
• enable students to apply core theoretical and methodological aspects of heterodox perspectives to a given case-based event or process
• encourage students to critically reflect on contemporary dynamics and developments in the global economy
• address key methodological challenges linking theory and empirical research for critical analyses.

Students are encouraged to engage with the course readings for the individual sessions before arrival. A specific reading list for the individual sessions will be provided.

The summer school will draw broadly on the following texts:

-Hunt , E.K. & Lautzenheiser, M. (2011) History of Economic Thought: a critical perspective (3rd edition)

-Polanyi, K. (2001) The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. Beacon Press: Boston

-Wood, E. M. (2002) The Origin of Capitalism. London. Verso.

-Veblen, Thorstein (1904) The Theory of Business Enterprise. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

-Fraser, N. (2013) Fortunes of Feminism: From State-Managed Capitalism to Neoliberal Crisis. Verso. -Keynes, J. M. (1936) The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money

-Selwyn, B. (2013) The Global Development Crisis. Cambridge: Polity Press.

-Mirowski, P. (1989) More Heat Than Light. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

-Pradella, L. & Marois, T. (2014) Polarising Development: Alternatives to Neoliberalism and the Crisis. Pluto Press.

-Chang, H.J. (2014) Economics: The User’s Guide. Pelican.

-Van der Pijl, K. (2009) A Survey of Global Political Economy. Centre for Global Political Economy: University of Sussex

-Fine, B. & Milonakis, D. (2009) From Political Economy to Economics: Method, the social and the historical in the evolution of economic theory. London & New York: Routledg

Teaching and working methods

The course takes place over a two week period and comprises a range of activities. Each half-day session consists of an interactive lecture of 1 ½ hrs, and a workshop of 1 ½ hrs.

The lectures will present a variety of critical approaches, drawing on the readings and the lecturers’ own work. The core element of the summer school is active learning-oriented workshop seminars, in which the participants discuss the theoretical, methodological and empirical issues raised in the lectures. There will also be opportunities for participants to present their own work to the group. Self-study periods, facilitated by the enabling learning environment Roskilde university campus provides, which offer an opportunity for students to improve their knowledge and understanding.

The exam consist of two parts: 1. The written assignment that is prepared during the course. 2. A 48 hour written assignment. The first sub-assignment is a written assignment answering the question handed out by the course teacher in the beginning of the course. The second assignment is a 48-hour written assignment. This assignment may not exceed 12.000 keystrokes including spaces corresponding to 5 standard pages. The two assignments must be combined in a single document and uploaded to eksamen.ruc.dk. The scope of the assignment is based on 2400 keystrokes (including spaces) per page, excluding the front page, table of contents, bibliography and appendices. The assignment will be refused examination if it exceeds the maximum size, and one examination attempt will be deemed to have been used up. A single combined grade is awarded. The written assignments are given equal weight in the final grade awarded for the course.

1st assignment: Given by the course convener 48-hour examination: 14th August 2017 at 10.00 - 16rd August 2017 at 10.00

If the students has not handed in the first written assignment at the last course session the assignment must be handed in two weeks after the course concludes at the latest. The re-examination for the 48 hour assignment takes place during the re-examination period.

Reexam: 5-6 September

If you have any questions please contact us at summerschool2017@ruc.dk

A maximum of 50 Participants