Introduction: Research Handbook on Political Economy and Law

Abstract

Events such as the global financial crisis have helped reveal that the drivers and contours of governance on a national and international level remain a mystery in many respects. Set in this context, the Research Handbook explicitly addresses the constitutive relationship between law and political economy. With scholarly contributions from diverse disciplinary and geographic backgrounds, the volume is organized in three parts, topics surrounding money and markets, the relations of organization, and commodities, land and resources. This introduction frames these themes, and seeks to capture the spirit of excitement within the chapters about the significance of what is at stake and the openness that the crisis has provided for rethinking what the conditions are and should be for the future of global governance.

Keywords: political economy, global governance, international law