The pandemic of Covid-19 exposed critical gaps in social policy and underscored the foundational role of families and households in both societal and economic stability. This introductory chapter to a Special Issue explores the interdependence between formal economic participation and unpaid domestic labour – collectively referred to as ‘social reproduction’. Drawing on feminist political economy, the chapter addresses how gendered and undervalued reproductive labour is essential to economic growth and the realisation of international commitments such as the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly gender equality and inclusive growth. This Special Issue uses South Korea as a comparative case study due to its unique economic trajectory, rapid demographic ageing, stark gender inequalities, and limited social protection systems. The country’s long working hours, low fertility rate, and pronounced wage and care burdens on women illustrate how inadequate social reproduction support can threaten broader social and economic sustainability. The pandemic further intensified these issues, disrupting institutional supports and deepening inequalities. This Special Issue collectively examines how policies across different contexts either alleviate or exacerbate the tensions between productive and reproductive labour, using South Korea as a focal point for comparison. This comparative analysis highlights the need for structural reforms and cultural change to support effective social reproduction policies, emphasising that gender-equal leave, accessible childcare, and shared caregiving responsibilities are crucial for work-family balance and social well-being. South Korea’s experience illustrates both progress and ongoing challenges, offering valuable lessons on the limitations of market-driven approaches and the importance of resilient, state-supported family policies.

The motion of small non-spherical particles is often studied using the unsteady Stokes equations. Zhang & Stone (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 367, 1998, pp. 329–358) reported an asymptotic treatment for nearly spherical particles, to first order in particle non-sphericity, i.e. $O(\epsilon )$, where $\epsilon$ quantifies the shape deviation from a sphere. Importantly, key physical phenomena are absent at $O(\epsilon )$, including (1) coupling between the torque experienced by the particle and its linear translation, (2) coupling between the force the particle experiences and its rotation and (3) the effect of non-sphericity on the orientation averages of these forces and torques. We present an explicit asymptotic theory to second order in particle non-sphericity, i.e. $O(\epsilon ^2)$, for the force and torque acting on a particle in a general unsteady Stokes flow. The derived analytical formulae apply to particles of arbitrary shape, providing the leading-order asymptotic theory for the three above-mentioned phenomena. The theory is demonstrated for several example nearly spherical particles including a spheroid, a ‘pear-shaped’ particle and a simple model for a SARS-CoV-2 virion. This includes formulae for force and torque as a function of particle orientation and their corresponding orientation averages. Our study reveals that the orientation-averaged forces and torques experienced by a nearly spherical particle cannot be generally represented by a perfect sphere. The reported formulae are validated using finite-amplitude three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of the Navier–Stokes equations. A Mathematica notebook is also provided, facilitating implementation of the theory for particle shapes of the user's choosing.

This article asks whether there is a discrepancy between the field of International Political Economy (IPE) as we know it from recent debates about its role, distinctiveness, and contribution compared to the experience of its practitioners on the ground? Intellectually IPE is needed more than ever to engage real world events but faces constraining institutional imperatives. We have two interrelated objectives related to this: (1) to assess the extent to which the patterns in recent interventions are replicated when you ask those who self-identify as IPE scholars in the UK (2) to appraise survey data on the reproduction of a particular community of practice within the field as it evolves intellectually and institutionally. Rather than imposing our interpretation of IPE through publications, citation practices, conference attendance, or textbook content we offer two distinct contributions. First, to report new empirical data on IPE as a ‘field of inquiry’ in UK universities; and, second, to develop a critical intervention on the indisciplined nature of IPE as a field of inquiry in the UK. We conclude that the widely acknowledged and long-standing fertile intellectual advantages of IPE's ‘open range’, unlimited intellectual borders and transgressive enquiry bring institutional disadvantages with them.

This article looks at the promise of the ‘New Middle Class’ (NMC) inherent in the neoliberal ideological ideal of individualising societal responsibility for well-being and success. The article points to how this promise enables a discourse and practice of welfare reform and a disciplining of life styles particularly targeting the very poor in society. Women and some ethnic minorities are particularly prone to poverty and then therefore also discipline. The article then provides a case study of the Troubled Families Programme (TFP) and shows how the programme and the way it is constructed and managed partly undermines the provision of the material needs to alleviate people from poverty and re-produces discourses of poor lifestyle and parenting choices as sources of poverty, thereby undermining the ‘middle-class’ promise.