ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the historical constitution of international political economy and International Political Sociology through the lens of conceptual conflict. While much of the content of the journal International Political Sociology relies on theoretical underpinnings provided by Pierre Bourdieu and Michel Foucault, C. Tilly is the most important sociologist providing both macro and micro-analysis of international change. On the sociological side, there is a reassertion of the broader institutional parameters that provide the conditions for a self-valorization of transnational capital. The contrast between Immanuel Wallerstein and Theda Skocpol is easy to discern. Skocpol’s career is, in part, built on a critique of Wallerstein’s approach to the international system. Finally, an application of Foucauldian notions of power, risk and the importance of calculative devices to the economic realm can be seen in Marieke de Goede’s work, which carefully unearths the role of moral tropes and technical instruments in constituting finance as a productive and rational aspect of economy.
