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TO: Senate

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

Senate Committee on University Priorities ?

Memorandum

FROM:

John Waterhou

Chair, SCUP

Vice President,

S.03-45

RE:

Centre for Global Political Economy

DATE: ?

March 7, 2003

(CGPE)

Attached is the proposal for the establishment of the Centre for Global Political

Economy (CGPE) submitted for consideration by Dr. John Pierce, Dean of Arts. This

will be a Schedule A Centre reporting to the Dean of Arts in accordance with Policy R

40.01.

The Senate Committee on University Priorities reviewed the proposal at its March 5,

2003 meeting. The proposal was unanimously approved. Once approved by Senate,

the proposal will be submitted to the Board of Governors.

Motion:

That Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors the establishment

of the Centre for Global Political Economy as outlined in document S.03-45

end.

c. S. McBride, Department of Political Science

B. Clayman, VP Research

J. Pierce, Dean, Faculty of Arts

SCUP 03 - 012

.00

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

MEMORANDUM ?

OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT, RESEARCH

TO: Laurie Summers, Secretary

Senate Committee on University

Planning (SCUP)

FROM: Bruce P. Clayman

Vice-President, Research

RE: Centre for Global Political

DATE: February 11, 2003

Economy (CGPE)

Attached is a proposal from Dr. Roger Blackman, Acting Dean of Arts, for the

establishment of a Centre for Global Political Economy (CGPE) as a Schedule A Centre.

The Governing Committee for Centres and Institutes recommends that the

Centre be granted approval by SCUP. Once approved by SCUP, the proposal is to be

forwarded to Senate, followed by submission to the Board of Governors.

Governing Committee:

Dr.'John H. Waterhouse

We-President, Academic and Provost

Dr. Bruce P. Claynaan

Vice-President, Research

Attachment

C: ?

Dr. Lynda Erickson, Chair of the Political Science Department

Dr. Stephen McBride, .'Political Science Dept., and CGPE representative

P_j

Received

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

DEC

Office of the Dean, Faculty of Arts ?

itfl

MEMORANDUM

To: ?

Bruce

Clayman

From:

Roger Blackman

Vice-President Research

? Acting Dean of Arts

Subject:

Proposal for a Centre for

Date:

December 16, 2002 ?

Global Political Economy

I am recommending the establishment of a Schedule A

Centre for

Global Political Economy

(CGPE). As detailed in the attached proposal, the

CGPE

will provide an important focus for the research efforts of nine faculty

members in the Department of Political Science, as well as a similar number of

colleagues in other departments in the Faculty of Arts.

Establishment of the CGPE will formalize ongoing activities in this area

that have recently seen the organization of two international conferences

(Globalization and its Discontents, 1998; Global Turbulence: Instability in

National and International Political Economy, 2001). Impressively, these

conferences yielded 5 edited publications of selected papers. Of equal

importance has been the stimulation of international research collaborations with

colleagues in Australia, the UK, Mexico and Norway.

It is proposed to establish CGPE at an initially modest level. We will

supply CGPE with an office, a start-up budget of $5,000, and a 1-course release

for the director. This should be sufficient to enable CGPE's members to secure

the external funding to sustain their activities. They have already demonstrated

their ability to work cooperatively to achieve important research outcomes.

Creating a Centre for Global Economy will facilitate their efforts, and in doing so

will provide significant recognition for them, for the Faculty, and for the University.

CC: Lynda Erickson, Chair of the Political Science Department

Stephen McBride, Political Science Department and CGPE representative

Resources Requested: proposed Centre for Global Political Economy

Space

It is important that CGPE have a physical presence. The minimum space needed

is one office.

Director

1 course release per annum.

Support

Start-up funding to assist the centre until external funding is obtained.

In the short-term the most important resource would be start up funding of,

say, $5000 to enable the new Centre to establish itself and organise grant-

getting and other activities.

Stephen McBride

BACKGROUNDER AND RATIONALE FOR A CENTRE FOR GLOBAL POLITICAL

ECONOMY (CGPE)

28 June 2002

A new Centre for Global Political Economy,

housed in the Department of Political

Science, and involving faculty from other academic units at SFU, will be established to

provide a focus for existing strengths in the field of global political economy and to win a

position as an international centre for such research. This will be accomplished through

external grants, high quality publications and a variety of other activities outlined below.

A Centre for Global Political Economy housed within the Department of Political

Science:

The Department of Political Science is the logical academic unit to house the proposed

centre.

The department has nine faculty members whose research is focused, either exclusively or

to a significant degree, on political economy. These are: James Busumtwi-Sam, Marjorie

Griffin Cohen, Dan Cohn, Ted Cohn, Laurent Dobuzinskis, Andy Hira, Michael Howlett,

Sandra MacLean, and Stephen McBride. Several of the department's Ph.D. students are

also working on political economy topics. They include Linda Elmose, Andrea Migone,

Russell Williams, and David Winchester This group of faculty and graduate students

represents a significant critical mass of expertise around which to build a highly research

intensive, publications and grant-oriented centre.

A recent (2000) external review of the Simon Fraser department commented favourably on

the department's strengths in political economy. Indeed the department has been already

been active in this area. Two international conferences have been organized:

Globalization and its Discontents (1998) and Global Turbulence: Instability in National

and International Political Economy (2001). Both conferences attracted external funding in

the shape of SSHRC conference grants. In November 2002 the department will assist the

Centre for Canadian Studies in organizing a conference on Canada's global role, a

significant component of which will involve issues of political economy. The 1998

conference resulted in two edited publications of selected papers (published by Macmillan

in 2000) and the 2001 conference has generated three edited collections - to be published

by Palgrave (UK), Ashgate (UK) and Kluwer (Netherlands) in 2002 and 2003.

Equally, or perhaps more importantly, the conferences have stimulated a number of

ongoing international research collaborations between SF11 faculty and their counterparts

elsewhere. These are producing further academic dividends for the researchers and their

institutions. Formal links are under discussion with research centres at Sheffield

University , Griffith University and Hull University and a variety of less formal links exist

between SFU researchers and colleagues in countries such as Australia, the UK, Mexico,

and Norway. Two members of the department are involved in an MCR[ grant on global

political economy as it affects semi-peripheral countries and the grant is currently funding

one PhD student in Political Science and a post-doctoral student in Womens' Studies at

. SFU. Three faculty members from the Department of Political Science serve as co-editors

of a prestigious University of Toronto Press series, Comparative Studies in Political

Economy and Public Policy, which could provide a useful outlet for some of the research

conducted in the new centre.

A number of SFU faculty members are working on projects involving regional trade

agreements such as NAFTA, trade and mi

rations the quasi-constitutional impact of

international economic agreements electricity deregulation, the impact of the GATS,

transparency and governance.

The core researchers at the centre have diverse approaches to political economy. But a

common concern, expressed in the theme of the 2001 conference is to overcome the

artificial division within political economy between those who focus on international

political economy and those whose orientation is on national systems. The Centre's core

members seek to integrate into their work insights from both domestically oriented

political economy, still focused on nation-states or comparisons of nation-states, and

international political economy, focused invaluably on the global, but prone to

underestimate the continuing impact of the national. It is the fusion of national and

international which makes the centre a unique enterprise within Canada.

The involvement of faculty and graduate students from other SFU departments and from

other institutions is crucial. Political economy, as it has emerged, is above all an

interdiscplinary project. The Centre hopes to host visiting fellows to work on

S ?

collaborative projects, and create a high profile for the University on political economy

issues though public outreach activities - public meetings, media etc.

A useful niche

There are a number of ER and global centres in BC and elsewhere, but very few anywhere

that focus specifically on political economy - Most either focus on strategic-security

studies or try to cover all of international relations - which is difficult to do adequately.

The proposed centre, therefore, is well positioned to make a name for itself.

Given the political economy focus of this centre there is no overlap between its projected

activities and those of other centres such as the Institute of Governance Studies or the

proposed Centre for International Studies.

Importance to Canadian scholarship

Political economy has a long history in Canadian academic and practitioner circles.

Considering Canada against the background of the international economy has a long

history too -- in a sense, Canada has always been a global nation. However, there is an

acknowledged need to integrate international and domestic dimensions of the subject in

line with the new global reality—the conditions of globalization and the way Canada is

inserted into the global political economy today are unprecedented. For Canadian

scholars, too, there is much to learn from academic perspectives from other settings. A

Centre for Global Political Economy can play a major role in this cutting-edge endeavour,

with collateral benefits for participants in the exercise, such as improved international

linkages and augmented research activity.

International Linkages

Scholars from a dozen countries have participated in the two international conferences

organized so far. Good links have been established with academics in Australia: at RM1T

University, Melbourne, Adelaide, University of Sydney, and Griffith University, Brisbane;

the UK: Sheffield and Hull Universities. The University of Sheffield houses an important

journal, New Political Economy, which has been in the forefront of attempts to integrate

the domestic and international discussions of political economy. The editor and one other

member of the editorial board (Anthony Payne and Andrew Gamble) attended the 2001

conference and we anticipate this will lead to useful additional connections between

Canadian and British scholars working in this field.

This connection, for example, may facilitate linkages between the journal they represent

and Canadian journals in related spheres such as Studies in Political Economy (on the

board of which 3 SFU faculty serve). The SSHRC MCRT project, based at the University of

Alberta, but including four SF0 participants, has co-investigators from four countries.

Activities

The Centre will be defined by its activities. It aims to become an internationally

recognised centre of expertise on global political economy.

The Centre will:

• Organize research teams, involving SFU and non-SFU academics and community

partners, to pursue major collaborative research grants;

• Organize workshops and conferences designed to bring together political economy

researchers and to publish the results in top quality academic outlets (books, journal

articles)

• Invite distinguished academics as Visiting Fellows

• Seek to attract post doctoral fellows

• Encourage scholarly exchanges - faculty and graduate students

• Seek to inform policy debates on relevant issues by publishing in its own name, or in

collaboration with others, academically reviewed, but accessible reports on issues of

global political economy.

• Organize public lectures

• Publish pre-publication Occasional papers

• Assist in developing graduate courses and teaching materials within Global Political

Economy.

Constitution of the Centre for Global Political Economy

The Centre for Global Political Economy is a Schedule A centre responsible to

the Dean of Arts.

All activities of the Centre shall be conducted in accordance with University

policies.

3.Purpose

The interdisciplinary Centre for Global Political Economy, housed in the

Department of Political Science, and involving faculty from other academic units

at SFU and elsewhere, aims to provide a focus for existing University strengths

in the field of global political economy and to win a position as an international

centre for collaborative research in the area. This will be accomplished through

external grants, high quality publications and a variety of other activities

outlined below.

Aims and Activities

The Centre will be defined by its activities. It aims to become an internationally

recognised centre of expertise on global political economy.

The Centre's activities will include:

• Organizing research teams, involving SFU and non-SFU academics and

community partners, to pursue major collaborative research grants;

• Organizing workshops and conferences designed to bring together political

economy researchers and to publish the results in top quality academic

outlets (books, journal articles)

• Inviting distinguished academics as Visiting Fellows

• Seeking to attract post doctoral fellows

• Encouraging scholarly exchanges - faculty and graduate students

• Seeking to inform policy debates on relevant issues by publishing in its own

name, or in collaboration with others, academically reviewed, but accessible

reports on issues of global political economy.

• Organizing public lectures

• Disseminating pre-publication Occasional papers

• Assisting in developing graduate courses and teaching materials within

Global Political Economy.

Governance

Membership. The initial members of the Centre are listed in Appendix A.

Membership is open to any SFU faculty member (including emeritus

professors) with research interests in global political economy who accepts an

invitation to participate in one of the Centre's projects and whose application

to join the Centre is approved by the Steering Committee.

The members of the Centre shall constitute the Steering Committee.

The Director of the Centre shall organise at least one meeting of the Steering

Committee in the Fall semester. Fifty per cent of the members shall constitute

a quorum. Additional meetings shall be arranged as necessary and in any

case at the request of 50 per cent of the members of the Steering Committee.

The Director is appointed by the Dean of Arts for a three year term

(renewable) on the recommendation of the Steering Committee.

The Director is responsible for the ongoing activities of the Centre. The role of

the Director is to facilitate, initiate and provide a leadership role in the

Centre's activities. The Director's responsibilities to the University are

specified in University Policy R40.01, 5.2.

Associate membership in the Centre ( with the status of Research Associate)

may be conferred by the Director and/or Steering Committee on: (i) non-SFU

researchers who are participating in one of the Centre's research projects; and

(ii) graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, non-tenure track instructors and

others who are participating in one of the Centre's research projects.

Committees and working groups shall be established as necessary by the

Director and/or Steering Committee to conduct the Centre's activities.

-Laws and Amendments to this Constitution

By-Laws and Amendments to this Constitution may be adopted by a regular

meeting of the Steering Committee provided one week's advance notice is given

in writing or by email of all proposed changes.

Ar,r,endix A Founding Members

Department of Political Science

James Busumtwi-Sam,

Marjorie Griffin Cohen /

Andy Hira,/ Latin American Studies

Michael Howlett,

Sandra Maclean,

Stephen McBride.

Department of Psychology

Bruce Alexander

Department of Geography

John Brohman/

Latin American Studies

Department of History

' ?

Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Karl Froschauer

Gerardo Otero/ Latin American Studies

Gary Teeple

Department of Womens Studies

To: Dr Bruce Clayman, Vice President Research

From: Dr. Stephen McBride

Date:

27 January 2003

Subject: proposec3for Global Political Economy

In response to your query re the financial implications of the proposed Centre: some start

up funds have been requested but the Centre is then intended to

self financing through

external grants. Thus there would be no ongoing financial costs other than those outlined

in the Dean of Arts memo on this subject

W.A.C. Bennett Library

Simon Fraser University

Memorandum

To: Val Murdoch, Administrative Assistant ?

From:

Gwen Bird

Office of the Vice President, Research ?

Head, Collections Management

gbird@sfti.ca

Subject:

Library Report for the Proposed Centre for

Public Policy Research

Date:

February 11, 2003

Cc: Jack Corse, Liaison Librarian for Political

Science

Here is the Library's Report regarding the proposed Centre for Global Political Economy.

I have reviewed the proposal for the above named Centre and am satisfied that the Library can support

the Centre at this time. The Library is already collecting at a research level in the areas of global

political economy, globalization, regional trade, trade agreements and political economy, and has

strong holdings in both monographs and journals in these areas. The proposed focus of the Centre, "the

fusion of national and international," can be accommodated within our present collection development

activities.

Some specific resources are named in the proposal; the Library carries both of the core journals

mentioned,

New Political Economy

and

Studies in Political Economy,

as well as the UofT Press series

Studies in Comparative Political Economy and Public Policy.

Although there are no outstanding Library issues at this time, there may be future hiring of faculty with

interests outside the current scope of the Centre for Global Political Economy. When hiring such

individuals it is important to note the compatibility of their research interests with existing library

resources. If a mismatch is determined and new resources are required the Centre will have to provide

funding to purchase such library resources. This is a general concern regarding new hires and not

specific to the Centre for Global Political Economy.

Costs:

THERE ARE NO ADDITIONAL LIBRARY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS CENTRE.

If you have any questions regarding this assessment, please don't hesitate to contact me by phone

(3263) or by email, gbird(ä.sfu.ca