Benjamin Cohen (professor)
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Jerry Cohen is the Louis G. Lancaster Professor of International Political Economy
at the University of California, Santa Barbara
. At UCSB, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1991, he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on international political economy.
Cohen finished his undergraduate degree in 1959 and his doctorate degree in 1963, both in Economics
from Columbia University
.
From 1962 to 1964 Dr. Cohen was a research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
.
He 1964 to 1971 was an assistant professor in the Economics department at Princeton University
.
Dr. Cohen was on the faculty of Tufts University since 1971. Until he joined the faculty at UCSB he was the William L. Clayton Professor of International Economic Affairs at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
. His research interests mainly involve issues of international monetary and financial relations, and he has written about matters ranging from exchange rates and monetary integration to financial markets and international debt.
, Robert Gilpin
, Peter Katzenstein, Robert Keohane
, Charles Kindleberger, Stephen Krasner, Joseph Nye
, and Susan Strange
and charts the development of IPE from these foundations to the present.
At the heart of the book is a depiction of IPE being divided into American and British
camps. The Americans being positivist and attempting to develop intermediate level theories that are supported by some form of quantitative evidence. British IPE is more "interpretivist" and looks for "grand theories". They use very different standards of empirical work. Cohen sees benefits in both approaches.
This characteristion of IPE has been hotly debated. One forum for this was the "2008 Warwick RIPE Debate: ‘American’ versus ‘British’ IPE" where Cohen, Mark Blyth, Richard Higgott
and Matthew Watson followed up the recent exchange in RIPE. Higgott and Watson in particular querrying the appropriateness of Cohen's categories.
International political economy
International political economy , also known as global political economy, is an academic discipline within the social sciences that analyzes international relations in combination with political economy. As an interdisciplinary field it draws on many distinct academic schools, most notably ...
at the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
. At UCSB, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1991, he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on international political economy.
Cohen finished his undergraduate degree in 1959 and his doctorate degree in 1963, both in Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
From 1962 to 1964 Dr. Cohen was a research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is located at 33 Liberty Street, New York, NY. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses New York state, the 12 northern counties of New Jersey,...
.
He 1964 to 1971 was an assistant professor in the Economics department at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
Dr. Cohen was on the faculty of Tufts University since 1971. Until he joined the faculty at UCSB he was the William L. Clayton Professor of International Economic Affairs at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
. His research interests mainly involve issues of international monetary and financial relations, and he has written about matters ranging from exchange rates and monetary integration to financial markets and international debt.
An Intellectual History of IPE
In an Introduction to International Political Economy: An Intellectual History Cohen traces the genesis and development of the rapidly growing field of international political economy. He documents the work of the key pioneers of the discipline: Robert CoxRobert Cox
Robert Cox may refer to:* Robert E. Cox , American optician and telescope maker* Robert Edward Cox , American Medal of Honor recipient* Robert O. Cox, mayor of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 1988–1991...
, Robert Gilpin
Robert Gilpin
Robert Gilpin is a scholar of International Political Economy and the professor emeritus of Politics and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He holds the Eisenhower professorship...
, Peter Katzenstein, Robert Keohane
Robert Keohane
Robert O. Keohane is an American academic, who, following the publication of his influential book After Hegemony , became widely associated with the theory of neoliberal institutionalism in international relations...
, Charles Kindleberger, Stephen Krasner, Joseph Nye
Joseph Nye
Joseph Samuel Nye, Jr. is the co-founder, along with Robert Keohane, of the international relations theory neoliberalism, developed in their 1977 book Power and Interdependence. Together with Keohane, he developed the concepts of asymmetrical and complex interdependence...
, and Susan Strange
Susan Strange
Susan Strange was a British academic who was influential in the field of International Political Economy. Her most important publications include Casino Capitalism, Mad Money, States and Markets and The Retreat of the State : The Diffusion of Power in the World Economy.For a quarter of a century,...
and charts the development of IPE from these foundations to the present.
At the heart of the book is a depiction of IPE being divided into American and British
British International Political Economy
British International Political Economy is a label attached by some to a particular approach to international political economy , an approach which increases the breadth of choices about what IPE really involves...
camps. The Americans being positivist and attempting to develop intermediate level theories that are supported by some form of quantitative evidence. British IPE is more "interpretivist" and looks for "grand theories". They use very different standards of empirical work. Cohen sees benefits in both approaches.
This characteristion of IPE has been hotly debated. One forum for this was the "2008 Warwick RIPE Debate: ‘American’ versus ‘British’ IPE" where Cohen, Mark Blyth, Richard Higgott
Richard Higgott
Richard Higgott is a Professor of International Political Economy at the University of Warwick.He was president of the Australasian Political Studies Association....
and Matthew Watson followed up the recent exchange in RIPE. Higgott and Watson in particular querrying the appropriateness of Cohen's categories.