The past decade has seen the mainstreaming of concerns about inequalities, with the work of scholars and of social movements – from Occupy to the International Women’s Strike – centring the social and economic injustice created by persistent inequalities of income, gender, race and class. Gradually, some international organisations and national governments have begun to shift their focus, if only in their rhetoric, to acknowledge the importance of tackling gender, race and class inequalities, whose detrimental socio-economic impact is currently being revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the multiple crises it generated. However, the road is long ahead as these inequalities continue to be overwhelmingly addressed separately from strictly economic concerns. In this scenario, feminist political economy can offer the right frameworks and methodological tools to explore the articulation of multiple and intersecting inequalities, and their implications for the world economy.

 

The course provides an in-depth overview of concepts, methods and practices in feminist political economy, including social reproduction, households and care, racism and development, gender and neoliberalisms, migration and ethnic violence. The material covered is interdisciplinary, as reflected by the teaching team. The course takes a global perspective and is structured to achieve a balance between engagement with theoretical debates and applications for empirical research, making use of case studies, interactive and reflecting sessions.

 

The course is designed for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students looking to become familiar or deepen their engagement with debates in feminist political economy. The main objective of the course is to provide participants with a feminist political economy toolkit, from which they can selectively draw concepts, methods and practices that they can integrate in their research, work and teaching.