1st Edition

A Critical Rewriting of Global Political Economy Integrating Reproductive, Productive and Virtual Economies

By V. Spike Peterson Copyright 2003
    280 Pages
    by Routledge

    280 Pages
    by Routledge

    Moving beyond a narrow definition of economics, this pioneering book advances our knowledge of global political economy and how we might critically respond to it.

    V. Spike Peterson clearly shows how two key features of the global economy increasingly determine everyday lives worldwide. The first is explosive growth in financial markets that shape business decision-making and public policy-making, and the second is dramatic growth in informal and flexible work arrangements that shape income-generation and family wellbeing. These developments, though widely recognized, are rarely analyzed as inextricable and interacting dimensions of globalization. Using a new theoretical model, Peterson demonstrates the interdependence of reproductive, productive and virtual economies and analyzes inequalities of race, gender, class and nation as structural features of neoliberal globalization.

    Presenting a methodologically plural, cross-disciplinary and well-documented account of globalization, the author integrates marginalized and disparate features of globalization to provide an accessible narrative from a postcolonial feminist vantage point.

    1. Context and Objectives  2. Theory Matters  3. The Productive Economy  4. The Reproductive Economy  5. The Virtual Economy  6. The Power of Value Bibliography

    Biography

    V. Spike Peterson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Arizona. She is the editor of Gendered States and the co-author (with Anne Sisson Runyan) of Global Gender Issues.

    'A unique and valuable contribution to at least three key areas of research: international relations, international political economy, and feminist and critical studies. The book is cogently written, with sophisticated and clear explanations of Peterson's theoretical approaches and methodological choices.'

    Helen M. Kinsella, International Studies Review

    'There is much in this book to give food for thought to us all. It challenges conventional accounts of international political economy and, most notably. it reaffirms the linkages between the reproductive and productive economies in the context of globalization.'

    Shirin Rai, International Feminist Review of Politics, June 2005 

    'I found the book to be an excellent introduction to important issues of globalization, one that also provides creative and politically sensitive ways of address in these issues.'

    Shirin Rai, International Feminist Review of Politics, June 2005