Cultural Political Economy

The global political economy is inescapably cultural. Whether we talk about the economic dimensions of the "war on terror", the sub-prime crisis and its aftermath, or the ways in which new information technology has altered practices of production and consumption, it has become increasingly clear that these processes cannot be fully captured by the hyper-rational analysis of economists or the slogans of class conflict. This book argues that culture is a concept that can be used to develop more subtle and fruitful analyses of the dynamics and problems of the global political economy. Rediscovering the unacknowledged role of culture in the writings of classical political economists, the contributors to this volume reveal its central place in the historical evolution of post-war capitalism, exploring its continued role in contemporary economic processes that range from the commercialization of security practices to the development of ethical tourism. The book shows that culture plays a role in both constituting different forms of economic life and in shaping the diverse ways that capitalism has developed historically “ from its earliest moments to its most recent challenges. Providing valuable insights to a wide range of disciplines, this volume will be of vital interest to students and scholars of International Political Economy, Cultural and Economic Geography and Sociology, and International Relations.

1. Introduction Jacqueline Best & Matthew Paterson Part 1: Interrogating the Classics 2. Undressing the wound of wealth: the cultural constitution of political economy David Blaney & Naeem Inayatullah 3. Works, Products and the Division of Labour: Notes for a cultural and political economic critique Matt Davies Part 2: The Cultural Constitution of Economic History 4. A Genealogy of the Embedded Economy Rob Aitken 5. The International Cultural Content of Keynesianism: American Money Doctors in Postwar Latin America Eric Helleiner Part 3: Culture as Concealing Political Economic Practices 6. Anti-Political Economy: popular and official cartography and the cultural mediation of "illegal immigration" William Walters 7. Joyless Cosmopolitans? Ethical tourism and the evacuation of pleasure Debbie Lisle Part 4: Cultural Futures of Political Economy 8. Premediation, Speculation, Imagination Marieke de Goede 9. Lines of Sight: Attentiveness, Algorithm and Association in Homeland Security Louise Amoore 10. Cybernetic capitalism and the global information society: from the "global panopticon" to the "brand" new world Maxime Ouellet 11. Of Talent, Worlds, and Cherry Trees: an archaeology of the present Nigel Thrift Part 5 Conclusions/Provocations 12. Cultural, Political, Economy R.B.J. Walker