The Networks and Niches of International Political Economy

We analyze the organizational logics of how social clustering operates within International Political Economy (IPE). Using a variety of new data on IPE publishing, teaching, and conference attendance, we use network analysis and community detection to understand social clustering within the field. We find that when it comes to publishing and intellectual engagement, IPE is highly pluralistic and driven by a logic of ‘niche proliferation’. Teaching IPE, however, is characterized by a ‘reduction to polarity’ that emphasizes a dualism in ontological and epistemological frames. In the face of competitive exclusion pressures, intellectual communities regenerate themselves by constructing niches while simultaneously nodding to a common tradition.