On the political theory of political economy: conceptual ambiguity and the global economy

This article explores conceptual ambiguities and contests involved in the movement from an 'international' to a 'global' economy. It argues that these contests involve, potentially, fundamental transformations in the concept of economic life. After offering an historical interpretation of the concept of the 'economic' in current International Political Economy, the article addresses three sets of conceptual contests raised by the forces of a global capitalist economy: descriptions of the geo-economic map of the world economy; the identity of economic life, especially ambiguities in the relation of public and private life; and descriptions of the spatio-temporal frame of economic life in the world economy. I conclude that the analysis of conceptual transformation and contest suggests a need for reassessing the political theory of the world economy.