Political Economy of the Global South in the Age of Financialization
About this course
This course aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to the debates on development and political economy of Turkey, also in relation to other emerging markets in the region.It covers central topics such as trajectories of development, competition, financial deepening, financial inclusion and crisis management in the last quarter of the 20th century and the first two decades of the 21st century.
A widely held misconception regarding economic and financial crises in the global South attributes the causes of the crises to the incapacity of policy makers in transforming their economies in line with the demands of investors. Either because of the exclusive institutions or policy fallacies, it is maintained; emerging markets such as Turkey cannot catch up with the advanced countries of the North. This stance ignores the interdependencies not only between the countries, but also the policy dilemmas that the emerging markets confront amidst processes of financialisation and credit-led strategies of economic growth.
The course will rest on an interdisciplinary effort benefiting from comparative political economy, political science and development studies. It will elaborate various case studies from Turkey to analyze both the day-to-day workings of global finance and the reflection of global financial conjuncture upon major emerging markets. It will help the students grasp major issues and problems that Turkey confronts in an era of financialisation. While providing a meta-level discussion of development in the last decades, the course will provide a comparative and historical lens to analyze the political economic transformation in Turkey in relation to other countries in the global South.
What you'll learn
Upon successful completion of the course students will be able to:
+ develop a grounded understanding of the policy space in Turkey in relation to other major emerging markets and the impact of the 2007-09 international financial crisis on the scope and content of this space.
+ grasp the key elements of crisis management in Turkey in comparison to other markets in the global South and its transformation in recent decades.
+ critically evaluate the debates in the fields of development studies and global political economy
Course outline
The full syllabus of this course can be found here.
Please note that there will be a preparatory meeting that will take place during the usual class hours one week before the class starts. In this meeting, we will introduce you how the platform works and we will offer technical support so that everybody is technically ready for the first session.
Meet your instructor
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Ali Rıza Güngen is a political scientist and independent researcher. Dr. Güngen received his Ph.D. from Middle East Technical University and was granted the Young Social Scientist award by the Turkish Social Sciences Association in 2013. Güngen is the co-author of the 2014 book Financialization, Debt Crisis and Collapse (in Turkish) and co-editor of 2019 book The Political Economy of Financial Transformation in Turkey. His articles appeared in journals such as The Journal of Peasant Studies and New Political Economy. His research currently focuses on sovereign debt management across the global South, financial inclusion, and state restructuring in Turkey.
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