Ground Level: Everyday Political Economy - podcast episode with Juanita Elias

A new podcast, hosted by SPERI Presents, the podcast of the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute, has recently been released, and the first episode features BISA Chair Professor Juanita Elias. 

Ground Level - Everyday Political Economy is hosted by Dr Frank Maracchione, ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow at SOAS University of London. Ground Level uses familiar topics that relate to people’s ‘everyday’ experiences to provide an entry point into the discipline of International Political Economy (IPE). They explore how common people’s actions represent a key driver of global capitalism and are fundamental to understanding power relations in the global economy. Across factory floors, family kitchens, neighbourhoods, and informal markets, the international economy is lived and negotiated in ordinary places.

This first episode introduces the theoretical concepts behind Ground Level. Frank speaks to BISA Chair, Professor Juanita Elias, about why everyday life matters for studying global political economy, highlighting feminist and social reproduction approaches that have reshaped the field, and discussing the relationship between the ‘everyday’ and the ‘international’. The episode asks a simple but powerful question: What does the global economy look like when we start from everyday life?

Together, they trace the emergence of everyday political economy, highlighting feminist and social reproduction approaches that have reshaped the field, before turning to the relationship between the everyday and the international.

Concepts discussed include commodification, social reproduction, agency, violence, and resistance.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Acast.

Next episodes will discuss: 

• “Ageing and Care” with Yingzi Shen (University of Sheffield).
• “Food and War” with Nadine Bahour (Harvard University, Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights). Co-hosted with Gwilym Evans.
• “RuPaul and Globalisation” with Mariya Levitanus (University of Edinburgh) and Helton Levy (City University of London).
• “Cannabis and the State” with Gulzat Botoeva (Swansea University), Adam Lloyd (University of Sheffield) and Matthew Bishop (University of Sheffield).
• “Commuting and Sustainability” with James Jackson (University of Manchester) and Vicki Reif-Breitwieser (University of Sheffield). Co-hosted with Gwilym Evans.
• “Music Streaming and Surveillance” with Eric Drott (University of Texas at Austin).