Continuing our "continuity and change" topic from last week, but this time in the sphere of political economy. The question is: have recent changes in the organization of the global political economy meant the end of the postwar "embedded liberal" order, or are they an example of "norm-governed change"?
Embedded liberalism is something that I hadn't really considered prior to our class discussion. Sure, I had heard the term and briefly learned about it in my eleventh grade AP United States History, but I really didn't understand it. Now, I think I might. I think that embedded liberalism is basically the process in which governments increase social spending in order to appease those who may be 'iffy' on the stance of globalization. In order to keep all groups in contentment, the gains of such embedded liberalism must be shared. With that (hopefully correct) context in place, let's get into the ACTUAL blog question! I think that embedded liberalism is a little bit outdated now a days, as in it isn't really used. When I think of embedded liberalism, I think of things like The Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan was enacted in the years following the second world war. America provided twelve million dollars to countries in Western Europe and claimed it was to help the recover from the economic and social repercussions of war fatalities. However, it was largely done so that America could maintain control of European countries and keep them in the form of democratic states (capitalist) to keep them away from communism (lack of free trade). Like previously stated, embedded liberalism must 'benefit' all groups involved. However, I believe that there is a large amount of political ongoings that we are largely unaware of. Even though we think of acts and actions from 1945-1985 (these are the years that the era of embedded liberalism is primarily referred to as) I believe that there is a large chance that things are happening under the surface of public politics that could be referred to as embedded liberalism, but is done through the means of other services other than mere financial aid. Unfortunately, when I went looking for modern day examples of embedded liberalism I couldn't find them. But then it made me wonder, could I not find them because they weren't there, or because the term embedded liberalism IS outdated and occurrences are no longer sorted under this category? So, I kind of think that I can't truly answer this blog post. But, right now, I think that embedded liberalism is an outdated term and currently underused term for something that still occurs today in a more discrete way. Maybe norm-governed change is just a new term that is being used in place of embedded liberalism?
1 Comment
Jeremy Anderson
12/9/2018 08:44:10 pm
Hi Halle,
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Hey there! I'm Halle Jaymes and I'm a first year SIS student from Southern California. I'm hoping to focus on Europe as my region of study and hone in on sustainable fashion and general fashion in International Relations. Archives
December 2018
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