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Get to Know Randall Germain: Exploring Political Economy through PECO5000

For prospective students considering a deep dive into the fascinating world of political economy, Dr. Randall Germain offers an unparalleled opportunity to engage with the discipline’s foundational texts and contemporary debates. This Fall 2025, Dr. Germain will teach PECO5000, the cornerstone course in the Political Economy program. As the core course for the Fall portion, this class is where you will get your first impression of the Political Economy program and meet the small cohort you will get to spend the next 2 years with throughout the program. With a rich academic background and a passion for historical and theoretical inquiry, Dr. Germain brings a plethora of expertise and enthusiasm to the classroom.

From History to Global Finance: Dr. Germain’s Academic Journey

Dr. Germain’s academic path has been shaped by an enduring curiosity about how the world works. Beginning his academic career with a B.A. in History and Political Science at the University of Victoria, he completed his studies with a PhD in Political Science from York University. His journey into International Political Economy (IPE) began through an engagement with history, political science, and the history of political thought. After completing his PhD research on the global monetary and financial system, he spent much of his career examining how financial governance is regulated and how theoretical debates in IPE engage with historical processes. Another key area of Dr. Germain’s scholarship focuses on the disciplinary history of International Political Economy: where it comes from, how it has evolved, and how it has become institutionalized in the academy.

Currently, Dr. Germain is completing a book on how the discipline of International Political Economy has engaged with the idea of history, including a chapter that brings key thinkers such as Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and Max Weber into conversation with one another. He has also recently published an article on Karl Polanyi and International Political Economy co-authored with a �Ӱ�ԭ�� PhD student in political science. This active engagement with the field makes Fall 2025 a particularly exciting time for him to teach PECO5000, as he has spent the past six months immersed in the very material students will study.

A Canonical Approach: What to Expect in PECO5000

Dr. Germain’s approach to teaching PECO5000 is rooted in engaging deeply with foundational texts. Unlike many courses that rely heavily on excerpts or secondary material, he prioritizes reading “big chunks” of original works to allow students to grapple with ideas in their full complexity. Students will delve into classics like Smith’s The Wealth of Nations and Marx’s Capital, spending two weeks on each text. The course also includes influential thinkers like Weber and Gramsci, along with sections on feminist political economy, post-structural, and post-colonial approaches.

The semester culminates with an examination of a contemporary work in political economy, published within the last few years. This structure not only provides students with a strong grounding in the field’s intellectual traditions but also shows how these traditions continue to inform modern scholarship.

A Collaborative and Challenging Environment

Dr. Germain is particularly excited about the interdisciplinary nature of the Political Economy program and the highly engaged community at the Institute of Political Economy. He emphasizes that students come to the Political Economy program for two reasons: a curiosity about how the world works and a desire to explore how political economy helps explain it.

Embrace your curiosity! The academic achievements of students in this program demonstrate your readiness to engage with these texts. Most of the thinkers we study are approachable and fascinating to explore. Even with Marx, we make the material accessible by breaking it down and incorporating engaging resources like news articles to bring his ideas to life.

Learning and Growing Together

For Dr. Germain, teaching PECO5000 is as much about his own intellectual growth as it is about his students’. “Every time I re-read one of these works, I learn something new,” he says. “I’m excited to see how students bring their own interests and questions to these thinkers, we create the best discussions from our interdisciplinary background and collective grounding.”

By the end of the course, students will have engaged deeply with some of the most foundational texts in political economy, gaining not only theoretical knowledge but also developing critical tools to analyze how the world works. Dr. Germain’s mantra for success? “Embrace your curiosity, and don’t be afraid to dive deep.”

If you’re looking for an intellectually rigorous course that challenges you to think critically about the intersections of history, politics, and economics, Dr. Germain’s PECO5000 promises an enriching and transformative experience.