What are the connections between the ever-worsening global environmental crisis, the global political economy and our everyday lives? How can we understand efforts to mitigate climate change and do our everyday actions make a difference? What are some of the everyday products, services and activities that we consume and how are they contributing to environmental degradation?
In this blog series, we present outcomes from a teaching and learning project which brought together students located in three countries – the UK, Malaysia, and Australia – to reflect on these questions. Students were tasked with working together in groups to produce a short blog that linked their everyday lives to the global political economy of climate change. This was a project grounded in the I-PEEL approach to teaching International Political Economy – one that asks students to develop their understanding of IPE by starting with everyday objects and practices that link us, in one way or another, to global capitalism. Funded by the Monash Warwick Alliance, this was a cross-campus project involving students from Warwick and Monash’s campuses in Victoria and Malaysia; it was therefore also a cross-cultural project involving students located in very different parts of the world with very different experiences of the effects of climate change. Students were grouped together to co-author blogs with mentoring from Warwick and Monash academics. This was a not-for-credit, groupwork project run over a short period of time that enabled students to think collectively about a pressing global issue, learn how to write collaboratively, and how to operate virtually across multiple continents and time zones, testing their time management skills to the limit!
The results of this project are published as part of this series. The blogs cover three broad themes, which touch on not only the climate crisis, but more broadly questions of sustainability, environmental degradation and human and social development, highlighting the complexity and interconnectedness of the political economy of the environmental crisis. The three themes are:
These essays on the everyday political economy of environmental crisis are the outcome of the second phase of the ‘Global Groupwork’ project. The first phase resulted in essays being published in a special section of the undergraduate student journal Reinventions. Those essays had a focus on a different global crisis – COVID-19 – providing a quite different vantage point for thinking about how the everyday of ‘living through COVID-19’ connects to the global political economy. A team of Warwick and Monash academics have been involved in supporting and mentoring students through this process – and through these collective efforts we hope to have developed a useful pedagogical intervention into how IPE can be taught beyond the conventional classroom and outside of the structures of formal assessment regimes. The academics involved in this project were: Tom Chodor, Juanita Elias, James Brassett, Samanthi Gunawardana, Ruben Kremers, Batrisyia Najwa Azalan, Helen Nesadurai, George Nikolaidis, Lena Rethel, and Marek Rutkowski.
Are alternative milks a suitable replacement for dairy milk? A paradigm shift is occurring in milk consumption, with plant-based alternatives gaining traction due to perceptions of their positive environmental impacts.
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Donating clothes is a common practice for many. When people no longer have use for their clothes, when they no longer fit, or when they simply no longer like them, donating seems like a much better option than throwing them out. We think that by donating our clothes, we are contributing to [...]
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Avocado consumption has been politicised not only as a threat to American national security, but also as a reason why young Australians find it difficult to afford housing. Meanwhile, the contested politics of avocado production can be understood in terms of different visions of sustainability.
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It pains us to admit that in today’s fast-paced world, there is constant pressure to be stylish and relevant. Take blue jeans for instance - the never-ending list of new trends or the infinite number colours, cuts and styles seem to justify our temptation. We are pressured to be new and [...]
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Bluetooth headphones are essential and addictive, you might even be using a pair now. Following Covid-19 pandemic headphones have become vital for work, while also being essential tools for personal privacy, in work, entertainment or fitness activities. These varied applications have made them [...]
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You probably have at least ten tote bags at the back of your cupboard. The humble tote bag has a knack of accumulating in a way like no other. Yet, while these reusable cotton bags may seem good in principle, they have a much larger environmental impact than appears at first glance.
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Producing approximately 23 billion pairs of shoes each year, the global footwear industry is marred by significant environmental and ethical challenges. Despite the industry's substantial output, only about 5% of shoes are recycled, leaving the majority to exacerbate landfill issues globally. [...]
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