What Is Capitalism?

Join us for a discussion with Adrienne Roberts and Silke Trommer featuring their upcoming book, A Feminist Political Economy of Trade: Beyond Free Trade Feminism (Bristol University Press 2026).

Gender inequality in global trade is often treated as a problem of cultural practices that have impeded women’s participation in formal production for international markets. Challenging this framing, Roberts and Trommer examine gender hierarchies as foundational to the evolution of trade relations in the global capitalist economy and pervasive in trade governance today. The book develops the concepts of “housewifization," “trade productionism,” and “trading on social reproduction” to analyze the ways “free trade feminism” legitimates and exacerbates the structural inequalities of global trade. Chapters critically examine differing approaches to gender across a different subjects of global trade, including food and the digital economy.

Dr. Adrienne Roberts is Senior Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Manchester, UK . Dr. Silke Trommer is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Manchester, UK. We’ll begin with a 10 minute introduction by the author, followed by extended conversation with participants. For questions, contact appeal@politicaleconomylaw.org