Everyday Politics of the World Economy
How daily decisions influence global economic dynamics
John M Hobson editor Leonard Seabrooke editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Published:15th Nov '07
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This insightful collection examines how everyday actions and decisions shape the global economy, highlighting the importance of small-scale actors. Everyday Politics of the World Economy offers a fresh perspective.
In Everyday Politics of the World Economy, a collection of original research essays explores how everyday actions can significantly influence the global economy. The contributors challenge the prevailing focus on powerful states and large institutions in international political economy (IPE), arguing that the decisions made by seemingly ordinary individuals and groups hold transformative potential. By examining the roles of various small-scale actors, including peasants, laborers, and trade unions, the essays reveal the agency these groups possess in shaping their political and economic landscapes.
The book delves into the everyday actions of diverse actors, such as female migrant workers and Eastern diasporas, to illustrate how their choices contribute to broader economic changes. This approach offers a fresh perspective on critical issues like globalization, international finance, trade, taxation, consumerism, and labor rights. By shifting the focus from large entities to individual and collective actions, Everyday Politics of the World Economy encourages readers to recognize the power of grassroots movements and local decisions in driving systemic change.
Ultimately, this volume serves as a vital resource for students and scholars in fields such as politics, international relations, political economy, and sociology. It not only highlights the importance of everyday actions but also emphasizes the need for a more inclusive understanding of how economic dynamics operate on a global scale. This book is essential for anyone interested in the intersection of individual agency and global economic processes.
'Hobson, Seabrooke and the contributors to this volume join a select group of scholars who are reconceptualizing the study of the global political economy from the bottom up. The result is a unique set of readings with sophisticated conceptual, policy-relevant and pedagogical implications. This is the most innovative and useful collection of essays to be published in a very long time.' Robert A. Denemark, University of Delaware
'Hobson and Seabrooke expertly demonstrate how everyday people have agency in world politics and that agency exists even at the base of the world economy. This book really invites students to become part of a new, incomplete, but exciting research programme – a challenge to which many will want to rise.' Craig N. Murphy, M. Margaret Ball Professor of International Relations, Department of Political Science, Wellesley College
'This collection succeeds admirably in setting out an exciting new research and teaching agenda for IPE. Its innovative analysis of how the majority of the world's population shapes the global economy will be taken up by many other scholars.' Robert O'Brien, Professor of Global Labour Issues, McMaster University
'This imaginative volume offers an unusual bottom-up perspective in a field that wraps the practice of everyday life in the convention of mathematics and the language of institutions. In making this move, Seabrooke, Hobson and colleagues succeed in shifting our attention to an area of social life that conventional analyses of political economy rarely reach. A book that opens new ways of thinking about questions of political economy.' Peter J. Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies, Cornell University
' … this book should be credited for signalling a much-needed ontological shift in international political economy …' Development and Change
ISBN: 9780521701631
Dimensions: 226mm x 150mm x 15mm
Weight: 420g
264 pages