Historical Political Economy

Sophus A. Reinert

Chapter | The Palgrave Handbook of Political Economy | 2018

Historical Political Economy

Abstract

This book is a major contribution to the study of political economy. With chapters ranging from the origins of political economy to its most exciting research fields, this handbook provides a reassessment of political economy as it stands today, while boldly gesturing to where it might head in the future.
This handbook transcends the received dichotomy between political economy as an application of rational choice theory or as the study of the causes of societies’ material welfare, outlining a broader field of study that encompasses those traditions. This book will be essential reading for academics, researchers, students, and anyone looking for a comprehensive reassessment of political economy.

Keywords: Economics; Government and Politics; History;

Format: Print

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Citation:

Reinert, Sophus A. "Historical Political Economy." Chap. 5 in The Palgrave Handbook of Political Economy, edited by Ivano Cardinale and Roberto Scazzieri, 133–169. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.

The continent of Europe seemed in the spring of 2015 to be in a weaker position relative to other world regions than it had in centuries. Though comparatively small, it had long played a disproportionate role in world history, to the extent that the modern world system of states itself in large parts had been created in the wake of European imperialism. This case examines the deep history of Europe’s so-called “Great Divergence,” the means by which it achieved “modern economic growth” and conquered large parts of the known world, and the consequences of this moment for the past, present, and future of capitalism.

In the fall of 2018, Serbia found itself at a crossroads yet again. Following the Balkan Wars of the 1990s and the collapse of Yugoslavia, the country had embarked on a slow and arduous process of accession to the European Union (EU). This had been further hampered by the country’s tortuous relations to its breakaway province of Kosovo, one of several regions fighting for political independence at a time when the continent itself was seeking greater economic and political integration in the form of the EU. Support for the EU accession was falling in Serbia, however, also in light of the increasing presence in the country of Russian and Chinese interests and investments. But would the country eventually have to pick a side amidst the rapidly changing geopolitics of the early twenty-first century?

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Historical Political Economy

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