Catastrophic Beasts and How to Study Them: Researching Illicit Financial Activities in International Political Economy

Year 2021, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 215 - 240, 20.12.2021

Ahmet Ateş

https://doi.org/10.33399/biibfad.879116

Abstract

There is relatively less attention to illicit financial activities in the International Political Economy (IPE) studies, and it is quite ambiguous how to study these illicit activities. American IPE’s materialistic nature and state-centric approach miss essential features/relations of these illicit activities because they are neither materialistic nor state-centric. On the other hand, the British school is more suitable than American IPE because of its inclusive and multidisciplinary research and its engagement with real-world situations. However, its normative agenda and its motivation to judge rather than explain can be tricky in researching illicit activities. I argue that Constructivist IPE is the most suitable school because of its dynamism and concepts, namely meaning, cognition, uncertainty, and subjectivity. Utilizing these four concepts, researchers can conduct more detailed and more fruitful analyses regarding illicit financial activities. Showing why the Constructivist IPE is the most suitable school of IPE to research with a case study on tax havens’ status after 9/11, I assert that there should be more research in illicit financial activities in the IPE studies.

Keywords

International Political Economy, Terrorism, Tax Havens, 9/11, Hawala system

Catastrophic Beasts and How to Study Them: Researching Illicit Financial Activities in International Political Economy

Abstract

Uluslararası Politik Ekonomi (IPE) çalışmalarında yasadışı finansal faaliyetlere nispeten daha az ilgi vardır ve bu yasa dışı faaliyetlerin nasıl inceleneceği oldukça belirsizdir. Amerikan ekolünün materyalist doğası ve devlet merkezli yaklaşımı bu yasa dışı faaliyetlerin temel özelliklerini/ilişkilerini gözden kaçırmaktadır. Öte yandan İngiliz okulu, kapsayıcı olması, multidisipliner yönü ve dünya üzerindeki sorunları konu edinmesi nedeniyle Amerikan ekolünden daha uygundur. Bununla birlikte, normatif gündemi ve açıklamaktan ziyade yargılama motivasyonu sebebiyle, yasa dışı faaliyetlerin araştırılması hususunda yanıltıcı olabilmektedir. Bu makalede, Konstrüktivist ekolün dinamik olması ve temel dört kavramı sebebiyle yasa dışı finansal faaliyetleri araştırma konusunda en uygun ekol olduğu savunulmaktadır. Bu ekolden yararlanan araştırmacıların bu dört kavramı kullanarak yasa dışı finansal faaliyetlerle ilgili daha detaylı ve daha verimli analizler yapabileceği öne sürülmektedir. Konstrüktivist ekolün bu tarz faaliyetlerin incelenmesinde neden daha başarılı olduğu 11 Eylül’den sonra vergi cennetlerinin statüsüne ilişkin bir vaka çalışması ile ispatlanmış ve Uluslararası Politik Ekonomi çalışmalarının yasadışı finansal faaliyetlere daha çok odaklanmasının gerekliliği belirtilmiştir.

Keywords

Uluslararası Politik Ekonomi, Terörizm, Vergi Cennetleri, 11 Eylül saldırıları, Havale sistemi

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