SPERI Presents...

Can you be too wealthy to represent ordinary peoples' interests? What is the relationship between power and wealth in Parliament today? How does political privilege endure despite the abolition of hereditary peerages? How can political economy help us understand the House of Lords?

Huw Macartney is an Associate Professor in Political Economy at University of Birmingham. Nathaniel Sablan is a postgraduate researcher studying House of Lords Select Committees at University of Sheffield. They join Josh White to discuss to discuss Huw's new book The Assetocracy: Wealth, Power and Elitism in the House of Lords (University of Edinburgh Press, 2026). They consider the institutional shift from 'aristocracy' to 'assetocracy' including which fractions of capital are represented in the Lords; what we do and don't know about its members' financial interests; what the interplay between wealth and power in the Lords tells us about the British state and capitalism today; and do we need to abolish the House of Lords?

'New Thinking in Political Economy' is a monthly podcast showcasing cutting-edge political economy research that helps us to understand the world around us.

The series is produced by Chris Saltmarsh and Josh White. This episode was edited by Josh White with support from Chris Saltmarsh. Music and audio by Andy_Gambino. Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why do states carry on extracting fossil fuels amid climate collapse? Why have some pledged to phaseout fossil fuels over the next few decades? Why are supply-side policies important? What will the coming decades of energy politics looks like?

Peter Newell is Professor of International Relations at the University of Sussex, Lukas Slothuus is postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Sussex, and Daniela Soto Hernández is also a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Sussex. They work together with co-author Freddie Daley on the SUS-POL project which explores policies to reduce the supply of fossil fuels to the energy system.

They join Josh White to discuss their recent article 'Why do countries adopt supply-side policies? The international political economy of fossil fuel phaseouts' (2026), co-authored with Freddie Daley and published in Review of International Political Economy. They consider the relationship between energy demand and supply; the political economy behind states' enduring extraction of fossil fuels and why some have bucked the trend to embark on phase-outs; the relationship between extractivism and left political movements in Latin American states like Cololmbia and Cost Rica; the role of social movements in driving Denmark's phaseout policies; and questions of historic responsibility and climate justice.

'New Thinking in Political Economy' is a monthly podcast showcasing cutting-edge political economy research that helps us to understand the world around us.

The series is produced by Chris Saltmarsh and Josh White. This episode was edited by Josh White with support from Chris Saltmarsh. Music and audio by Andy_Gambino. Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What actually is an electrostate? How do the material substances of electricity and fossil fuels shape state power? Is the US a petrostate and does this question expose the flimsiness of the concept? When we talk about electrostates, do we really just mean China?

Freddie Daley is a Research Associate at the Centre for Global Political Economy University of Sussex. He joins Josh White to discuss his recent article 'Making sense of the electrostate' (2026), co-authored with Professor Peter Newell, published in Globalizations journal. They consider definitions of the often slippery concept; the relationship between electrification and fossil fuel use; how major shifts in geopolitics like the US' war in Iran are creating new dependencies and trade relations; and the need to push back against crude simplifications in political economy debates.

'New Thinking in Political Economy' is a monthly podcast showcasing cutting-edge political economy research that helps us to understand the world around us.

The series is produced by Chris Saltmarsh and Josh White. This episode was edited by Josh White with support from Chris Saltmarsh. Music and audio by Andy_Gambino. Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why has the Global South been peripheralized in the study of international political economy (IPE)? What does this cause us to miss in our scholarship? How are sovereignties and power dynamics produced in the Global South? How should teaching IPE change?

Zaynab El Bernoussi is Associate Professor of Political Science at The Africa Institute, Global Studies University (GSU) and Bashir Saade is Lecturer in Religion & Politics at University of Sterling. They join Josh White to discuss their textbook 'International Political Economy and the Global South Perspectives from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East', co-authored with Adriana María Garriga-López and Giuliano Martiniello, published with Routledge. They consider how the peripheralization of the Global South leaves us with an incomplete understanding of IPE; how the decentralisation of IPE causes us to challenge state-centric conceptions; the importance of labour and social movements in shaping sovereignties and forms of power; and the necessity of historicization.

'New Thinking in Political Economy' is a monthly podcast showcasing cutting-edge political economy research that helps us to understand the world around us.

The series is produced by Chris Saltmarsh and Josh White. This episode was edited by Josh White with support from Chris Saltmarsh. Music and audio by Andy_Gambino. Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How is value constructed and contested in the wine industry? What is the significance of place and nature? What does the win industry tell us about capitalist production in general?

Stefano Ponte is Professor of International Political Economy at Copenhagen Business School. He joins Josh White to discuss his book Value Struggles: Looking at Capitalism through the Wine Glass (Bloomsbury Academic, 2025) which is available as open access. The conversation includes definitions of value and the role of determining it in capitalist production; the significance of terroir and tradition in valuing wine; the institutional politics of prosecco; the ecological consequences of wine production and contestation over sustainability certification; and the racialised contingencies of labour and investment in South Africa.

'New Thinking in Political Economy' is a monthly podcast showcasing cutting-edge political economy research that helps us to understand the world around us.

The series is produced by Chris Saltmarsh and Josh White. This episode was edited by Josh White with support from Chris Saltmarsh. Music and audio by Andy_Gambino. Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.