In this Master Class, Professor Matthew Gray will explain the importance of Political economy as an interdisciplinary field of inquiry that explores the interplay between political power and economic structures and how these relationships shape and are shaped by national and global social and political forces.  It draws on political science, sociology, geography, history, policy studies and economics to offer a pluralist understanding of the drivers of economic change over time. It also engages with the structural features of economies (e.g. neoliberalism, inequalities, unemployment, etc.) that cause shifts, including shifts in social contracts, social unrest, and the reshaping of regional and global orders. Put simply, political economy argues that to understand societies and the world, one must understand the strong connection between economics and political power or markets and states. After the Master Class with Professor Gray, HDR students will then present their research and will receive feedback from Prof Gray and CAIS Faculty. The workshop is followed by lunch and networking.

Speaker:

Matthew Gray joined Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan as an associate professor in September 2016. His role covers teaching on political science, especially on Middle Eastern studies. His research interests are mostly focused on the politics, political economy, and international relations of the Gulf monarchies. Prior to joining Waseda, he was at The Australian National University in Canberra over 2005-2016. Over 1997-2005 worked in the Australian government in various roles including trade promotion, defence analysis, and immigration policy. He has been a visiting scholar at Tokyo University in Japan and at Durham University in the UK.He has published extensively in reputed academic journals. He is the author of Global Security Watch - Saudi Arabia (Praeger, 2014); Qatar: Politics and the Challenges of Development (Lynne Rienner, 2013); and Conspiracy Theories in the Arab World: Sources and Politics (Routledge, 2010).