Social Sciences · Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

Common Concerns

by Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

Welcome to the “Common Concerns” podcast. Here, Xiang Biao and his guests aim to transform social theory into a tool that empowers people to think for themselves. The researchers do not aim to provide listeners with universal answers. Rather, they seek to help them gain clearer insight into their own questions. In a world where many people feel increasingly alienated from the systems that shape their lives, they create a space where academic concepts meet lived experience and researchers reflect together with their conversation partners. Biao believes that social research has been trapped in a “small loop” for far too long. The small loop represents a closed circle of academic debates that rarely touches on the real questions that actually concern people. That is why Biao and his guests strive to step out of this small loop and enter the “big loop”—a chaotic, vibrant, sometimes uncomfortable space where ideas are tested, questioned, and transformed through interaction with the real world. The “Common Concerns” approach is a method that begins not with an exclusive focus on academic frameworks, but with people’s actual concerns. Behind this approach lies a philosophy that understands research as a living practice, not as a finished product, shaped by a commitment to speak with people rather than just about them. Each episode delves into a different aspect of this approach through stimulating conversations with researchers and thinkers who are reimagining how the social sciences can function in the 21st century. Among many other fascinating stories, you’ll learn: How debt becomes a moral shield in mining communities. Why working-class communities in the United Kingdom view “corruption” not as bribery, but as a moral collapse of power. How does fragile cosmopolitanism crumble under the weight of racism and geopolitical tensions? Why is the “bucket of cold water” of public resonance the true test of meaningful research? How can a simple conversation over a drink in a pub become a radical political act? We live in an era of post-liberal exhaustion, in which people feel the system has let them down. Not because they reject its ideals, but because they have lost faith in its ability to deliver results. There are many people who don’t want simple answers. They want tools for thinking that help them navigate their own reality. This podcast isn’t about solving problems, but about uncovering the hidden connections between our concerns and showing people that they are not alone.