International Political Economy MA

Year of entry: 2025

Course Length: 12 months full-time | 24 months part-time

About the course

PATHWAYS:

• International Political Economy (Standard Route) >

• International Political Economy (Research Route) >

International Political Economy, or Global Political Economy, is a vibrant and rapidly growing field of study. It has always been concerned with the connections between politics and economics, the national and the global, under conditions of globalisation.

More recently, International Political Economy has become an especially productive field for critical social science research into pressing global issues, such as: world poverty, inequality, gender relations, economic crises, and the environment.

The research route is particularly suited to those wishing to progress to PhD study.

Click on the links above to see the full course profiles on our website.

Join one of the UK's Top 5 universities for Politics and International Studies

(Times Higher Education Rankings 2024)

Engage with course units on a range of pressing global issues

Our graduates are among the most targeted by top UK employers

(High Fliers 2024)

Compulsory Units

Comparative Political Analysis
Research Design and Skills
Critical Globalisation Studies
Critical Approaches to International Political Economy
Dissertation

Optional Units

Comparing Capitalisms in the Global Political Economy
The Politics of Money & Finance
Creating a Sustainable World: Interdisciplinary Applications of the Sustainable Development Goals
European Capitalisms: Crises, Transformations and Contestations
European Union Foreign Policy
Democracy and Autocracy in Eastern Europe and Latin America

These are examples of units offered in 2023/24 and are subject to change.

See the full list of units and find out more on the full course profile >

Where will your degree take you?

Equipped with specialist knowledge, a top education and outstanding multidisciplinary skills such as research, debate, problem-solving and communication, our International Political Economy graduates go on to a variety of highly rewarding careers in national, international and multinational organisations.

Another popular route is academia, with many graduates, particularly those from the research pathway, pursuing PhDs to become researchers and teachers at Manchester and at other leading institutions around the world.

Louis Ridgway Iv

MA International Political Economy

"The course gave me a solid background in theories about how the global political economy actually works, along with a diverse array of topical and regional classes.

"The lecturers were knowledgeable and always looking to encourage discussion and engagement from students."

Dr Robert Watt

International Political Economy Programme Director

"The MA in IPE gives students crucial insights into the patterns and contradictions of the global economy. Students come to understand how global inequalities are produced and maintained economically and through raced and gendered forms of power. The Manchester approach to IPE embraces critical theoretical debates that generate eye-opening perspectives on a range of fascinating cases from around the world."