Sara Cantillon et al., "Feminist Political Economy: A Global Perspective" (Agenda, 2023)
Dec 16, 2024
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Join Odile Mackett, a senior researcher from South Africa, and Sara Stevano, a senior lecturer at SOAS University of London, as they delve into the transformative book "Feminist Political Economy: A Global Perspective." They discuss the critical importance of addressing unpaid labor and the dynamics of inequality in households. The conversation highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic revealed flaws in traditional economic frameworks and why integrating feminist theories can reshape development policies. Their insights challenge mainstream narratives and broaden our understanding of social reproduction.
The podcast emphasizes the importance of incorporating feminist perspectives into political economy to address underrecognized inequalities within households.
It highlights the distinction between care and social reproduction, illustrating their unique roles in supporting societal functions amidst systemic inequalities.
Deep dives
Redefining Household Inequalities
Traditionally, political economy has focused on between-household inequalities, often overlooking the dynamics within households. A feminist perspective highlights the complexities of household relationships, suggesting that they are not homogenous units but sites of power and conflict, particularly concerning gender roles and age. This approach reveals how households can perpetuate inequalities, especially regarding the allocation of unpaid labor, where women's contributions are often underrecognized. The shift towards including individual experiences within households in research methodologies aims to capture a more comprehensive understanding of inequality, ensuring that diverse voices and needs are acknowledged.
The Interplay of Care and Social Reproduction
The book distinguishes between the concepts of care and social reproduction, both integral to feminist political economy, yet approached from different angles. Social reproduction feminism has regained prominence, emphasizing the importance of unpaid labor in sustaining society while care practices involve relational dynamics between caregivers and those receiving care. These concepts, although related, have developed distinct trajectories within feminist literature, with care often focusing on policy implications and social reproduction concentrating on broad systemic inequalities. The analysis during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the limitations of households as sole providers of care and social reproduction, underscoring the need for wider societal structures to support these functions.
Global Perspectives on Feminist Political Economy
Feminist perspectives enrich the understanding of political economy and development by addressing the limitations of mainstream economic analysis, such as GDP and welfare regimes. These perspectives prompt a critical examination of social hierarchies and intersectional inequalities that often remain unaddressed in conventional frameworks. By integrating insights from various disciplines, feminist political economy aims to provide a more comprehensive view of economic dynamics that includes the roles of households and families as essential institutions. The collaboration among researchers from diverse global contexts fosters a nuanced discussion of these issues, bridging gaps between localized and global economic analysis.
Challenging mainstream narratives in political economy, the new book Feminist Political Economy: A Global Perspective(Agenda Publishing, 2023) serves as an introduction to a new era of critical research. It is written by Prof. Sara Cantillon, Dr. Sara Stevano and Prof. Odile Mackett, who have carried out incredible work to deconstruct gender-blind approaches in contemporary economic research. The book brings together the most important topics in political economy and demonstrates why feminist approaches are crucial to understanding social relations. It begins with an overview of feminist political economy and then offers a nuanced perspective on care, social reproduction, inequalities in households and labour markets, and the feminisation of poverty. As mentioned in the podcast, the book not only takes a feminist approach to theory, but is also an example of the practice of feminist research, focusing for example on female scholars.
The host, Sarah Vogelsanger, is a feminist researcher, who is interested in social justice, critical migration studies and political ecology.