Kai Koddenbrock
Biographic Data
| ID | 215550 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kai Koddenbrock |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kai |
| FAMILY NAME | Koddenbrock |
| SIGNATURE | KODDENBROCK K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Witten/Herdecke University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 110 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 13 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Walking a fine line
Earnest struggles
Faced with a more multipolar world, scholars of International Political Economy are sharpening their tools to make sense of the longue durée of post-colonial institutions, international financial subordination and the quest for self-determination. This article develops the notion of ‘earnest struggles’ in Senegal’s postcolonial history and shows that successive governments have indeed tried to move their country forward against the odds. The focu…
State capitalism and capital markets
Finance plays a major role in discussions about state capitalism in emerging markets, but the focus has so far been on banks. Capital markets have been neglected. Moreover, findings from the growing literature on financialization in emerging markets indicate that in some cases there is increasing state involvement in the development and functioning of capital markets. Hence, the relationship between the state and finance in these economies may be…
Capital Claims
International financial subordination
Despite a varied picture in terms of their relative economic strength, Developing and Emerging Economies (DEEs) remain in a subordinate position in the global monetary and financial system. While the IPE and economics literatures provide rich insights about the significance of this phenomenon, research efforts remain fragmented. To address this problem, we offer an umbrella concept—international financial subordination (IFS)—to channel research e…
Hierarchical multiplicity in the international monetary system
This article investigates the relationship between international currency hierarchies and ‘societal multiplicity’. I provide an historical sketch of how West African societies and the rest of the world have engaged in trading money for slaves and raw commodities for centuries. I concur that societal multiplicity can indeed be seen as lying at the root of the global monetary system with its multiple currencies. However, my analysis offers three cr…
Money and moneyness
This paper contends that political economy may profit from an understanding of money that is both able to account for its systemic importance as well as money’s specific role for the contemporary distribution of wealth. ‘Money-ness’ is a strategic factor in profit-making and capital accumulation. If we accord moneyness to all those instruments that make the repackaging of credit and other financial assets and liabilities and their capitalization …
Against Understanding
Revolving around three examples - Jesuit missionary activities in 17th century North America, Friedrich von Hayek's neoliberal thought and Timothy Morton's theory of hyperobjects - our paper discusses the notions of distance and pointing out which are subterraneously at work in today's critical spirit and its tendency to align itself with the affirmation turn. Our investigation of the distances between subject and object and the role of the criti…
The ‘Failed-State’ Effect
Strategies of critique in International Relations
Critique is back on the scholarly agenda. Since the financial crisis, critique has been debated in philosophy and sociology with renewed rigour. International Relations is currently picking up on these developments. Yet, the critique of capitalism is largely absent in International Relations. This article argues that the theoretical resources deployed among ‘radical’ International Relations help explain this phenomenon. In order to rectify this, …
Malevolent politics
Since the start of reporting during the ‘Congo wars’ in 1998 the International Crisis Group (icg) has been one of the most important sources of information for Western analysts, UN agencies and ngos dealing with the political and economic challenges of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This article takes a closer look at the way Congolese government politics is analysed in icg reports. It shows that the logics of government and the dilemmas of ru…
Intervention as Indirect Rule
There are two basic ways of questioning intervention: interrogating its legitimacy or showing its ambiguous effects. Alex Veit's compelling ethnographic study of intervention in the Congo's Ituri District does the latter. Moving beyond common criticism of a lack of coherence and coordination between intervening organizations, he digs deeper and illustrates the unintended effects of intervention in the course of a meticulous historical sociology t…
Recipes for Intervention
This article investigates how influential policy advice constructs a stable Congo image and upholds the belief in intervention benefits. By investigating analytical blind spots and the way counter evidence is dealt with, this article shows that current policy papers imagine the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s economy, politics and society in a reductionist way. The economy is seen as criminal, illegal and unproductive. The state is portrayed…
International financial subordination
Despite a varied picture in terms of their relative economic strength, Developing and Emerging Economies (DEEs) remain in a subordinate position in the global monetary and financial system. While the IPE and economics literatures provide rich insights about the significance of this phenomenon, research efforts remain fragmented. To address this problem, we offer an umbrella concept—international financial subordination (IFS)—to channel research e…
Strategies of critique in International Relations
Critique is back on the scholarly agenda. Since the financial crisis, critique has been debated in philosophy and sociology with renewed rigour. International Relations is currently picking up on these developments. Yet, the critique of capitalism is largely absent in International Relations. This article argues that the theoretical resources deployed among ‘radical’ International Relations help explain this phenomenon. In order to rectify this, …
Recipes for Intervention
This article investigates how influential policy advice constructs a stable Congo image and upholds the belief in intervention benefits. By investigating analytical blind spots and the way counter evidence is dealt with, this article shows that current policy papers imagine the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s economy, politics and society in a reductionist way. The economy is seen as criminal, illegal and unproductive. The state is portrayed…
Hierarchical multiplicity in the international monetary system
This article investigates the relationship between international currency hierarchies and ‘societal multiplicity’. I provide an historical sketch of how West African societies and the rest of the world have engaged in trading money for slaves and raw commodities for centuries. I concur that societal multiplicity can indeed be seen as lying at the root of the global monetary system with its multiple currencies. However, my analysis offers three cr…
State capitalism and capital markets
Finance plays a major role in discussions about state capitalism in emerging markets, but the focus has so far been on banks. Capital markets have been neglected. Moreover, findings from the growing literature on financialization in emerging markets indicate that in some cases there is increasing state involvement in the development and functioning of capital markets. Hence, the relationship between the state and finance in these economies may be…
Earnest struggles
Faced with a more multipolar world, scholars of International Political Economy are sharpening their tools to make sense of the longue durée of post-colonial institutions, international financial subordination and the quest for self-determination. This article develops the notion of ‘earnest struggles’ in Senegal’s postcolonial history and shows that successive governments have indeed tried to move their country forward against the odds. The focu…
Money and moneyness
This paper contends that political economy may profit from an understanding of money that is both able to account for its systemic importance as well as money’s specific role for the contemporary distribution of wealth. ‘Money-ness’ is a strategic factor in profit-making and capital accumulation. If we accord moneyness to all those instruments that make the repackaging of credit and other financial assets and liabilities and their capitalization …
Malevolent politics
Since the start of reporting during the ‘Congo wars’ in 1998 the International Crisis Group (icg) has been one of the most important sources of information for Western analysts, UN agencies and ngos dealing with the political and economic challenges of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This article takes a closer look at the way Congolese government politics is analysed in icg reports. It shows that the logics of government and the dilemmas of ru…
Recipes for Intervention
This article investigates how influential policy advice constructs a stable Congo image and upholds the belief in intervention benefits. By investigating analytical blind spots and the way counter evidence is dealt with, this article shows that current policy papers imagine the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s economy, politics and society in a reductionist way. The economy is seen as criminal, illegal and unproductive. The state is portrayed…
Intervention as Indirect Rule
There are two basic ways of questioning intervention: interrogating its legitimacy or showing its ambiguous effects. Alex Veit's compelling ethnographic study of intervention in the Congo's Ituri District does the latter. Moving beyond common criticism of a lack of coherence and coordination between intervening organizations, he digs deeper and illustrates the unintended effects of intervention in the course of a meticulous historical sociology t…
Malevolent politics
Since the start of reporting during the ‘Congo wars’ in 1998 the International Crisis Group (icg) has been one of the most important sources of information for Western analysts, UN agencies and ngos dealing with the political and economic challenges of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This article takes a closer look at the way Congolese government politics is analysed in icg reports. It shows that the logics of government and the dilemmas of ru…
The ‘Failed-State’ Effect
Strategies of critique in International Relations
Critique is back on the scholarly agenda. Since the financial crisis, critique has been debated in philosophy and sociology with renewed rigour. International Relations is currently picking up on these developments. Yet, the critique of capitalism is largely absent in International Relations. This article argues that the theoretical resources deployed among ‘radical’ International Relations help explain this phenomenon. In order to rectify this, …
Against Understanding
Revolving around three examples - Jesuit missionary activities in 17th century North America, Friedrich von Hayek's neoliberal thought and Timothy Morton's theory of hyperobjects - our paper discusses the notions of distance and pointing out which are subterraneously at work in today's critical spirit and its tendency to align itself with the affirmation turn. Our investigation of the distances between subject and object and the role of the criti…
Hierarchical multiplicity in the international monetary system
This article investigates the relationship between international currency hierarchies and ‘societal multiplicity’. I provide an historical sketch of how West African societies and the rest of the world have engaged in trading money for slaves and raw commodities for centuries. I concur that societal multiplicity can indeed be seen as lying at the root of the global monetary system with its multiple currencies. However, my analysis offers three cr…
Money and moneyness
This paper contends that political economy may profit from an understanding of money that is both able to account for its systemic importance as well as money’s specific role for the contemporary distribution of wealth. ‘Money-ness’ is a strategic factor in profit-making and capital accumulation. If we accord moneyness to all those instruments that make the repackaging of credit and other financial assets and liabilities and their capitalization …
Capital Claims
International financial subordination
Despite a varied picture in terms of their relative economic strength, Developing and Emerging Economies (DEEs) remain in a subordinate position in the global monetary and financial system. While the IPE and economics literatures provide rich insights about the significance of this phenomenon, research efforts remain fragmented. To address this problem, we offer an umbrella concept—international financial subordination (IFS)—to channel research e…
State capitalism and capital markets
Finance plays a major role in discussions about state capitalism in emerging markets, but the focus has so far been on banks. Capital markets have been neglected. Moreover, findings from the growing literature on financialization in emerging markets indicate that in some cases there is increasing state involvement in the development and functioning of capital markets. Hence, the relationship between the state and finance in these economies may be…
Earnest struggles
Faced with a more multipolar world, scholars of International Political Economy are sharpening their tools to make sense of the longue durée of post-colonial institutions, international financial subordination and the quest for self-determination. This article develops the notion of ‘earnest struggles’ in Senegal’s postcolonial history and shows that successive governments have indeed tried to move their country forward against the odds. The focu…
Walking a fine line
Politics (9 works) · Law (8 works) · Political science (8 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Economics (6 works) · Law (6 works) · Finance (5 works) · Political economy (5 works) · Capitalism (4 works) · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism (4 works)