1st Edition

Poverty Amidst Plenty World Political Economy And Distributive Justice

By Edward Weisband Copyright 1989
    270 Pages
    by Routledge

    270 Pages
    by Routledge

    Edward Weisband's pioneering text is destined to transform the current teaching of world political economy at both the introductory and the advanced level. Outlining the moral principles and ethical concepts fundamental to grasping the human significance of poverty, he clearly reveals what is often hinted at but rarely stated–that the political dimensions of poverty and distributive justice constitute the organizing framework of the study of world political economy. Against a backdrop of readings, Professor Weisband's insightful, interpretative essays generate an interdisciplinary discussion, a synthesis of theoretical perspectives and value orientations, providing students with a critical comprehension of the complex workings of the world economy. The essays link basic approaches to world politics and international relations, international law and organization, international sociology, development studies, and moral philosophy to give texture to such basic theories as modes of production, dependency, world systems, unequal exchange, the labor theory of value, free-trade liberalism, neomercantilism, Marxism, and neo-Marxism. Alternative value orientations are also explored, including realist and neo-realist, conservative and liberal, egalitarian and cosmopolitan, radical and materialist. Poverty Amidst Plenty combines theory and analysis with historical and normative perspectives to offer students a relevant, prescriptive, and most of all, human picture of the far-reaching system that governs much of our lives.

    Statement of Purpose: Toward a Pedagogy -- Introduction -- The Political Economy of Development -- Preliminary Questions -- Inequality and Income: Measuring the Dimensions of Injustice -- Class, Capital, and Policy Strategies: Is Justice in Development Possible? -- The Political Economy of Uneven Development -- Core and Periphery: The History and Theory of Uneven Development -- The New Transnationalism: Toward a Political Economy of Transnational Modes of Production -- The Political Economy of States in the Liberal International Economic Order -- States and Distributive Justice: The Search for Grounds -- The Liberal International Economic Order and Distributive Justice -- Conclusion: The Morality of States and Cosmopolitan Justice

    Biography

    Edward Weisband is a Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Political Science at the State University of New York at Binghamton. Winner of numerous commendations, he was selected as the 1987 New York State Professor of the Year and was a gold medal finalist in the Professor of the Year national competition sponsored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. He was awarded the 1975 Christopher Society Literary Award for contribution to ethical discourse in American public life for his coauthored publication, Resignation in Protest.