MA International Political Economy (Standard) / Course details

The biggest challenges facing society are global in scale. There is a need for skilled researchers in international politics and the social sciences more generally to find solutions.

International Political Economy, or Global Political Economy, is a vibrant and rapidly growing field of study. It is an especially productive field for critical research into pressing global issues such as world poverty, inequality, and economic and environmental crises.

Our MA in International Political Economy looks at the connections between politics and economics at the national and global levels under the conditions of globalisation. You will be introduced to a range of core orthodox and critical theories, while also developing skills in research design.

You’ll also be able to tailor your course to fit your interests, exploring subjects such as:

• The Politics of Money and Finance;
• Critical Environmental Politics;
• Gender in Comparative Politics;
• Chinese Ethnic Politics;
• Politics and Data Science.

See a full list of mandatory and optional course units below.

Through the course, you will develop subject area expertise as well as highly transferrable skills such as research, critical inquiry, and writing and communication skills, setting you up for multiple career paths in the public, private, or third sectors. You will also be well-placed to continue developing and using your research expertise, either professionally or in PhD study.

Research or Standard Route?

The key difference between our MA International Political Economy (Research Route) and our MA International Political Economy (Standard Route) is the amount and scope of mandatory course units you will take.

On the Standard Route, in addition to your dissertation, you will take four mandatory course units and four optional course units Mandatory course units on this route are:

• Research Design and Skills;
• Critical Globalisation Studies;
• Critical Approaches to International Political Economy;
• Comparative Political Analysis.

On the Research Route, in addition to your dissertation, you will take six mandatory course units and two optional course units. Mandatory units on this route cover research skills and critical political approaches.

• Provide an advanced, systematic and critical understanding of issues at the forefront of international political economy.
• Provide an advanced critical awareness of the location of international political economy within the wider fields of political and social science, both in terms of its subject matter and the most prominent theoretical and methodological orientations within it.
• Train students to become autonomous and self-aware life-long learners, able to apply their existing knowledge and skills in innovative ways in a variety of contexts.

Prestigious department

The University of Manchester boasts one of the largest and best-known politics departments in the UK. We are home to some of the world’s leading experts and academics in the subject, and co-hosts (with Oxford) of the British Election Study, one of the longest-running election studies in the world and the longest-running social science survey in the UK.

Unique city

In our biased opinion, there’s no better place to study politics and economics than Manchester. Politics and history, revolutionary ideas and radical reform, are etched into the city’s streets and character, from workers' rights to feminism, Marxism to devolution.

Interdisciplinary approach

Interdisciplinary study is actively pursued at Manchester, with many course units involving expertise and contributions from a number of different schools and departments at the University, such as economics, social statistics, and sociology.

The MA International Political Economy is taught by an interdisciplinary team using a variety of delivery methods:

• lectures;
• Interactive seminar learning;
• student-led presentations and debate;
• group work;
• practical exercises;
• independent supervised study.

Most course units are assessed by written assignments and essays. Some course units may differ and may be assessed by methods relevant to the units’ contents, such as data analyses, presentations, or research design documents.

Part-time students

Part-time students complete the full-time course over two years. There are no evening or weekend course units available on the part-time course.

As a School of Social Sciences student, you will be supported by first-class resources.   

As well as access to networked study areas and one of the best-resourced academic libraries in the country, The University of Manchester Library .