The Study of Transnational Relations
Strange, Susan. “The Study of Transnational Relations.” International Affairs 52, no. 3 (1976): 333-345.
Published alongside ‘Who Runs World Shipping?’ (1976). In this article Strange sets out an outline method for sectoral analysis in the international economy. This is prefaced by a critical engagement with the Nye and Keohane ‘transnational politics’ approach. After stressing the inseparability of politics and economics, and the crucial authority/market trade-off, she suggests three analytical questions that must be asked in any sectoral analysis; questions about the loci and distribution of power over economic processes, the who, why, and how of economic intervention, and the question of the consequences, and benefits. Only by building up from systematic sectoral analyses can the asymmetrical bargaining processes, the impact of technology, the influence of markets and the politicisation of the international political economy be understood.
Keywords: Political Economy; Structural Power, Power; Theory