4 times IPE got real

International Political Economy (IPE) explores the ways in which structures translate to the everyday lives of people. How, for instance, does globalization reverberate throughout the system? What do ordinary people care if their country signs a trade agreement with another? How would lives change, or stay the same? IPE is more "real" than, say, the field of International Security (where I roam). Alliances, nuclear weapons, and drone strikes are just as "real," don't get me wrong, but IPE has this uncanny way of staring you in the face and showing you that you're more involved in perpetuating a system that protects you at the expense of others. These are 4 times this shiz got real.

Nails

The New York Times published a shattering article on the politics behind getting a manicure. Shit got real, even when we knew all this time. Or at least, we should've known. I'm guilty of this. A lot of women -- and maybe even men -- are guilty of being complicit in this. We are all guilty.

But let me just speak for myself. Going to a nail salon is a treat that I tell myself I deserve. It's an hour and a half of sitting in a plush chair and reading the latest fashion magazines, while two women toil to make my cuticles behave and the soles of my feet soft. It feels good. I feel beautiful. At the same time, I feel some cognitive dissonance going on here. We may think we live in a classless society, but we don't.

Other issues come to the fore from here on: workers' rights, human trafficking, human rights, poverty alleviation, urban planning, the list goes on. This Vox article starts addressing these problems.

Clothes

John Oliver's main segment on the April 26 episode of Last Week Tonight says it all. Sweatshops are the other side of the globalization coin. And here my cognitive dissonance grows exponentially. I buy clothes that are priced reasonably. Knowing that a Bangladeshi 12-year-old sews the pockets of my jeans, however, makes me rethink my paradigm. If I buy clothes produced ethically, in no way do I guarantee the emancipation of said 12-year-old. Moreover, won't I be putting her out of a job? Would I be throwing her into the wolves? What do I do?

Diamonds

My recent engagement makes this issue so much closer to home. I badgered Will into getting me an ethical ring. I don't want a conflict diamond, I said. I don't want blood on this symbol of love. I'm looking at my left hand now, that shimmery little thing winking at me. I did get what I want, but the 4 C's aside (carat, clarity, color, cut), not all diamonds are created equal. Some carry the weight of a person's struggle to smuggle a rock out of a conflict zone. A lot represent the interstices of international relations. And all of them embrace the politics of the ring. The Atlantic's "Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond?" (1982) and "The Strange (and Formerly Sexist) Economics of Engagement Rings" (2012) hit the mark precisely. The solution is not to stay single. Instead, it's to honor what goes on before that ring is on your finger.

Choices

The final way in which IPE topics become way too real is the practice of honor killings. Choosing whom to love should not cost one's life. Remember, patriarchy is detrimental for men too. Gender equality benefits not just women. #heforshe

So what now?

Life goes on, for better or worse. No one solution is possible. No one grand narrative can encompass all of these nuances. But we can be mindful. We can be grateful. We can be kind. Do your part and do it now.

#life