This article explores the significance of ideas, values and collective representations in shaping political ECONOMY by examining the case of free trade in late Victorian and Edwardian Britain. Its aim is to tie a historical perspective on the importance of political culture to the current methodological DEBATE about political economy in the social sciences. The opening critique of sectoral approaches is used to move the focus from material interests and economistic method to cultural significance and the interpretative framework underlying free trade. Shifting the attention to the knowledge of historical actors themselves reveals the formative role of ideology, historical MEMORY and political language in constructing free trade as a collective good. Free trade was associated with a historical VISION of national identity and societal self-development, and a moral ideal of the consumer, rather than with free market capitalism. The discussion concludes with some general thoughts on the importance of giving greater attention to political culture in the study of political economy.Journal InformationThe Review of INTERNATIONAL Political Economy (RIPE) has successfully established itself as a leading international journal dedicated to the systematic exploration of the international political economy from a plurality of perspectives. The journal encourages a global and interdisciplinary approach across issues and fields of inquiry. It seeks to act as a point of convergence for political economists, international relations scholars, geographers, and sociologists, and is committed to the publication of work that explores such issues as international trade and finance, production and consumption, and global governance and regulation, in conjunction with issues of culture, identity, gender, and ecology. The journal eschews monolithic perspectives and seeks innovative work that is both pluralist in its orientation and engages with the broad literatures of IPE.