The Mamagement of Surplus Capacity: Or How Does Theory Stand up to Protectionism 1970s style?
Strange, Susan. “The Mamagement of Surplus Capacity: Or How Does Theory Stand up to Protectionism 1970s style?” International Organisation 33, no. 3 (1979): 303-334.
In this article, which is a clear precursor to The Politics of International Surplus Capacity (with Roger Tooze, 1981), Strange discusses the management of surplus capacity in three sectors of the international economy - steel, textiles and shipbuilding, and the recourse to protectionism. She then goes on to discuss the problems this implies for mainstream theories of international economics. She argues that Liberalism, theories of development, and organisational or functionalist theories do not offer satisfactory explanations for the resurgence of tariff barriers. This is partly because none of these theories deal with economic power satisfactorily, though Strange offers little in the way of a corrective. She concludes by again arguing that it is increasingly difficult to draw a line between international and domestic policy, and thus theories that only deal with one or other side of this duality will by implication fail in their analysis. An earlier version was presented at the Tokyo meeting of the ISA, BISA and the Japan Association of International Relations in October 1977.
Keywords: Production; Theory; Trade; Structural Power, Power