The International Political Economy Research Network brings together Ottawa-based scholars, students and practitioners interested in understanding the political, social and cultural dynamics of the global economy.

Our members are drawn from a multitude of different disciplinary and theoretical backgrounds and address very different kinds of problems in their research.  Some focus on very concrete problems and solutions, seeking to make sense of past and present economic problems such as the recent financial crisis, poverty or economic refugees.  Others ask much broader, more philosophical questions about how what it means to be an economic actor, or how we can understand the economy in symbolic terms.

The IPE Network is designed to link those in Ottawa with an interest in political economic issues through a variety of events.

Network Coordinators

Jacqueline Best, School of Political Studies

Pascale Massot, Coordinator, School of Political Studies

Christopher Huggins, School of International Development and Global Studies

Ryan Katz-Rosene, School of Political Studies

Upcoming Events

News

June 2026 – Professor Christopher Huggins has been involved in preparations for the Fourth International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding that will be hosted by the University of Ottawa and the Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx) on June 16-19, 2026 in Ottawa. Preparatory events will be hosted across the world in a series called the “Path to Ottawa.”

April 2025 – Professor Ryan Katz-Rosene recently published a book titled “The Growth–Environment Debate”, which examines the inherent tensions between the pursuit of economic growth, the contrasting environmental considerations, and ways to bridge this gap.

Check out the related podcast, titled “The Growth-Environment Debate – Part 1“.

April 2025 – Professor Pascale Massot was the recipient of the International Studies Association (ISA)’s 2024 Best Book Award in International Political Economy for her book China’s Vulnerability Paradox: How the World’s Largest Consumer Transformed Global Commodity Markets.

Her 2024 book also won the Peter Katzenstein Book Prize for 2025, with Cornell University’s prize-awarding committee praising Professor Massot’s detailed study of China’s growing dominance of commodity markets and critical minerals, even as China reveals its own vulnerabilities.

Watch Professor Pascale Massot’s talk with Professor Matthew Paterson at the University of Manchester’s China Institute to discuss her award-winning book, “China’s Vulnerability Paradox”

Watch the entirety of their conversation below.

February 2025 – In February 2025, IPEN hosted visiting researcher James Jackson, with funding support from the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation (OVPRI). He held a talk titled “How the Insurance Sector is Practically Ignorant to Climate Risks”, and wrote a related blog post.

January 2025 – Professor Jacqueline Best’s paper titled “The Fragility of Depoliticization: Revisiting the History of Central Bank Inflation-Management” was published in January 2025. A version of this paper was presented at a CIPS-IPEN event in December 2023.

January 2025 – Professor Ryan Katz-Rosene hosted a podcast titled “Axe the Tax, or Face the Facts?”.

November 2024 – In November 2024, Professor Jacqueline Best testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Commerce, and the Economy as the Senate worked to enact a review of Canada’s monetary policy framework.

Past Events

Past Projects