The author also advances the view that realist political theory would benefit from sociological insights, particularly on the nature of the state

A World History of Political Thought is an outstanding and innovative work with profound significance for the study of the history of political thought, providing a wide-ranging, detailed and global overview of political thought from 600 BC to the 21st century. Treating both western and non-western systems of political thought as equal and placing them as they should be; side by side. Outlining a methodological approach to enhance the study of comparative political thought, this book covers key political thinkers throughout history, analyzing the works and influence of both men and women around the world. With its chronological narrative of the development of ideas and contrasting the key concepts and the contexts in which they grew, this history unfolds as a readable and engaging story of different civilizations as they evolved and, in an increasingly connected world, competed. Constituting a significant advancement in the inclusiveness and internationalization of political thought and global history, this book will change the way the field of political thought is approached. For students seeking an introduction to global political thought this is an invaluable tool, and the methodological discussion is essential reading for those seeking to engage in comparative analysis of both historical and contemporary political thought.

One of America’s leading political theorists analyzes the nihilism degrading—and confounding—political and academic life today. Through readings of Max Weber’s Vocation Lectures, she proposes ways to counter nihilism’s devaluations of both knowledge and political responsibility. How has politics become a playpen for vain demagogues? Why has the university become an ideological war zone? What has happened to Truth? Wendy Brown places nihilism at the center of these predicaments. Emerging from European modernity’s replacement of God and tradition with science and reason, nihilism removes the foundation on which values, including that of truth itself, stand. It hyperpoliticizes knowledge and reduces the political sphere to displays of narcissism and irresponsible power plays. It renders the profound trivial, the future unimportant, and corruption banal. To consider remedies for this condition, Brown turns to Weber’s famous Vocation Lectures, delivered at the end of World War I. There, Weber himself decries the effects of nihilism on both scholarly and political life. He also spells out requirements for re-securing truth in the academy and integrity in politics. Famously opposing the two spheres to each other, he sought to restrict academic life to the pursuit of facts and reserve for the political realm the pursuit and legislation of values. Without accepting Weber’s arch oppositions, Brown acknowledges the distinctions they aim to mark as she charts reparative strategies for our own times. She calls for retrieving knowledge from hyperpoliticization without expunging values from research or teaching, and reflects on ways to embed responsibility in radical political action. Above all, she challenges the left to make good on its commitment to critical thinking by submitting all values to scrutiny in the classroom and to make good on its ambition for political transformation by twinning a radical democratic vision with charismatic leadership.

Montesquieu and the Spirit of Rome argues that the eighteenth-century French author Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brede et de Montesquieu (1689-1755) developed a novel, comprehensive account of Roman history that framed his new political science and grounded his political teachings. Rome's legacy in early-modern thought turns on the work of Montesquieu, and through Rome Montesquieu articulated the strengths and weaknesses of the modern state-the moderation that can distinguish it and sources of extremism that must haunt it. This book is the first to unify Montesquieu's Roman thoughts; it is the first to reconstruct the Rome that was one of his most powerful legacies in the 18th and 19th centuries. Montesquieu and the Spirit of Rome restores Rome to its proper place at the peak of Montesquieu's thought and Montesquieu's thought to its proper place in the history of classical study. It treats Montesquieu as what he claimed to be-a jurist, a poet, a historian, and a political writer of the first rank, and it revives his hard-nosed defence of moderation.

In recent years, feminist and queer theory have effectively disavowed both the human and revolutionary politics. In the face of massive geopolitical crisis, posthumanists have called for us to reconsider fundamentally the superiority and centrality of mankind and the human, and question how Man can presume to change the world by revolutionary action, particularly when Marx s dreams seem to have been swept into the dustbin of history. This provocative book reaffirms what is most basic in feminism the attack on the universality and sovereignty of Man but contends that the only way this can mean anything other than pessimistic rhetoric is to embrace human agency and the struggle against colonialism and capitalism. In a series of creolized readings Foucault with Ali Shari ati, Lacan with Fanon, and Spinoza with Sylvia Wynter the authors demonstrate what is at stake in the ongoing debate between humanism and posthumanism, putting this debate in the context of contemporary global crises and the possibilities of revolution. In its defense of political spirituality, this book pushes for a new trajectory in response to the gross inequalities of today, one that offers us a very different view of revolution and its present-day potential.

What is recognition and why is it so important? This book develops a synoptic conception of the significance of recognition in its many forms for human persons by means of a rational reconstruction and internal critique of classical and contemporary accounts.

This book rethinks the idea of privacy. It argues that a satisfactory account of privacy should not limit itself to identifying why privacy might be valuable. It also needs to attend to the further question of how it can be secured in those circumstances in which it proves to be valuable. Drawing on republican ideas about the relationship between freedom and self-government, the book asserts that privacy is valuable, because it enables us to lead non-dominated lives. It prevents others from acquiring power to interfere in our choices - to remove options that would otherwise be available to us, and to manipulate our decision-making. It further examines the means through which citizens might exercise effective control over decisions and actions that affect their privacy and proposes a democratic theory of privacy. With the emergence of the 'surveillance state,' this volume will be indispensable for scholars, students, and researchers in political theory, political philosophy, law, and human and civil rights. It will be of particular interest to policymakers, lawyers, and human rights activists.

Reformulating a problem of both constitutionalism and liberalism discussed in the works of Ernst-Wolfgang Boeckenfoerde, Hannah Arendt, and Alexis de Tocqueville, the book examines one generally overlooked manifestation of constitutionalism: the role of the courts in shaping democratic politics and the inter-relationship between citizens and state. Drawing on constitutional history, law, and political theory, David Miles argues that constitutionalism cannot be seen merely as an institutional mechanism to limit government, as it also has a crucial civic dimension upon which the liberal state depends. Utilising the works of Boeckenfoerde, Arendt, and Tocqueville, constitutionalism is conceived in the book as part of a broader system of communal norms which sustains representative democracy and liberalism. Through an analysis of judicial interventions in the electoral processes of the United States and Germany, Miles explores the role of civil society actors in transforming constitutionalism through legal challenges to oligarchical or exclusionary practices. He assesses how, in adjudicating these cases, the US Supreme Court and the German Constitutional Court have mediated the tension between threats to stability and the imperative of democratic renewal. Democracy, the Courts, and the Liberal State will be of interest to scholars, students, and practitioners interested in comparative politics, political theory, and constitutional law and history.

In this book, David Jarrett argues that the influential Lockean thesis of justice in property, which traces back to John Locke, seems to entail much egalitarian property redistribution. Put briefly, Lockeans argue that people justly own: (1) any unowned natural resources they labour on, (2) any resources they receive via voluntary transfer from a legitimate owner, and (3) any resources they legitimately receive in compensation for harm done to their person or legitimately held property. However, a question that has been largely overlooked by Lockeans is how to address the problem of property which did not arise in line with Lockean justice. What do we do about property which derives from feudal and colonial conquest, for example? Drawing on a range of theoretical and historical sources, this book argues that the legal concept of restitution is the most reasonable way to address the problem. If we apply this concept, it appears that much property in the world is held unjustly and should be redistributed in an egalitarian manner. Lockean Property Ethics and Restitution will be of interest to political theorists and philosophers alike.

1) This volume questions the colonially structured interpretations and binaries in understanding post-colonial history and myths. 2) It contains articles written by scholars based in South Asia, Latin America and Europe. 3) Interdisciplinary and challenging the stereotypes, this book will be of interest to departments of post-colonial studies and cultural studies across UK and USA.

This book offers a timely and concise academic and historical background to the concept and practice of neutrality, a relatively new phenomenon in foreign and security policy. It approaches two key questions: under what circumstances can permanent neutrality be applied, and what are the main ingredients of success and the causes of failure in applying permanent neutrality? By evaluating, comparing, and contrasting the two successful European case studies of Austria and Switzerland and the two challenging Asian case studies of Afghanistan and Laos, the author creates a new framework of analysis to explore the feasibility of reframing, adopting, and applying a policy of neutrality and jump start debates on the feasibility of the idea of "new neutrality". He opens the debate by asking whether, as neutrality successfully functioned as a conflict resolution tool during the Cold War, a reframed and adopted version of neutrality could also serve the needs of the twenty-first-century world order. This is an insightful book for all scholars, students, and policymakers workingin international relations, security studies, the history of neutrality, and Afghanistan studies.

John Stuart Mill's On Liberty is widely regarded as one of the most influential and stirring pieces of political philosophy ever written. Ever relevant in our increasingly surveillance dominated culture, the essay argues strongly in favour of the moral rights of individuality, including rights of privacy and of freedom of expression. The Routledge Guidebook to Mill's On Liberty introduces the major themes in Mill's great book and aids the reader in understanding this key work, covering: the context of Mill's work and the background to his writing each separate part of the text in relation to its goals, meanings and impact the reception the book received when first seen by the world the relevance of Mill's work to modern philosophy. With further reading included for each chapter, this text is essential reading for all students of philosophy and political theory, and all those wishing to get to grips with this classic work of political philosophy.

This book offers transdisciplinary scholarship which challenges the agendas of and markers around traditional social scientific fields. It builds on the belief that the study of major issues in the global cultural and political economies benefit from a perspective that rejects the limitations imposed by established boundaries, whether disciplinary, conceptual, symbolic or material. Established and early career academics explore and embrace contemporary political sociology following the 'global' and 'cultural' turns of recent decades. Categories such as state, civil society, family, migration, citizenship and identity are interrogated and sometimes found to be ill-suited to the task of analyzing global complexities. The limits of global theory, the challenges of global citizenship, and the relationship between globalisation and situated and mobile subjects and objects are all referenced in this book. The book will be of interest to scholars of International Relations, Political Science, Sociology, Political Sociology, Social Theory, Geography, Area studies and European studies.

Revisiting the magnetic poles of Karl Polanyi and Friedrich Hayek on the utopian springs of political economy, this book seeks to provide a compass for questioning the market economy of the twenty-first century. For Polanyi, in The Great Transformation, the utopian springs of the dogma of liberalism existed within the extension of the market mechanism to the 'fictitious commodities' of land, labour, and money. There was nothing natural about laissez-faire. The progress of the utopia of a self-regulating market was backed by the state and checked by a double movement, which attempted to subordinate the laws of the market to the substance of human society through principles of self-protection, legislative intervention, and regulation. For Hayek, in The Road to Serfdom, the utopia of freedom was threatened by the abandonment of individualism and classical liberalism. The tyranny of government interventionism led to the loss of freedom, the creation of an oppressive society, and the despotism of dictatorship that led to the serfdom of the individual. Economic planning in the form of socialism and fascism had commonalities that stifled individual freedom. Against the power of the state, the guiding principle of the policy of freedom for the individual was advocated. Taking these different aspects of market economy as its point of departure, this book promises to deliver a set of essays by leading commentators on twenty- first- century political economy debates relevant to the present conjuncture of neoliberalism. The chapters in this book were originally published in a special issue of the journal Globalizations.

This book argues that the Russian thinker Petr Kropotkin's anarchism was a bio-political revolutionary project. It shows how Kropotkin drew on late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century European and Russian bio-social-medical scientific thought to the extent that ideas about health, sickness, insanity, degeneration, and hygiene were for him not metaphors but rather key political concerns. It goes on to discuss how for Kropotkin's bio-political anarchism, the state, capitalism, and revolution were medical concerns whose effects on the individual and society were measurable by social statistics and explainable by bio-social-medical knowledge. Overall, the book provides a refreshing, innovative approach to understanding Kropotkin's anarchism.

This new edition covers each of the current issues concerning the development of the EU - for example, enlargement, EMU, security and defence policy, the Treaty of Nice, the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, Justice and Home Affairs and relations with countries outside Europe. Jargon-free and accessible, this substantial textbook opens with an introduction to the historical and theoretical perspectives on European integration. The book then examines the EUs institutional machinery and policy processes. The final section provides a wide-ranging review of the main EU policies, seeking to enhance understanding of the main issues and controversies surrounding development of the EU. Intended for students undertaking courses in European integration and as a supplementary book for other courses, this textbook is useful for anyone seeking a concise yet authoritative introduction to the institutions and policies of the EU. Robert Jones has drawn on his wide teaching experience to produce a text which students will find both accessible and stimulating.

Social Progress and the Authoritarian Challenge to Democracy examines the authoritarian challenge to present-day democracy through a framing of social progress theory and the idea of the social contract. Building on the author's previous work, this book discusses whether social progress is linear and on a continual upward trajectory to human betterment, or if there are peaks and troughs along the way. More importantly, it questions that, if social progress exists, is it compatible with social and environmental sustainability? At the outset the book introduces the concepts of social contract theory and the idea of human social progress, long considered to be settled conditions, now ripe for further examination. Each chapter carefully analyses the contemporary struggle between democracy and authoritarianism, using examples from the USA as a foundation to discuss and compare democracies from around the world encountering the pressures of rising authoritarianism, including anti-immigration, xenophobia and anti-institutionalism. It argues that if the climate crisis is to be urgently addressed as required, the rise in authoritarian thinking, with its focus on maintaining power and the creation of individual wealth, presents a challenge to both our societal foundations and environmental sustainability. Highlighting and analysing topics of critical importance to today's society, this book will have widespread appeal to academics, researchers and postgraduate students throughout the social sciences including sociology, political science, philosophy, environmental sustainability and development studies.

* Offers a practical overview of 28 crucial concepts in Marxist theory as developed and integrated by Jacques Lacan. * Opens up new possibilities of discourse within the academic field for considering Marxist economic, philosophical, epistemological, political and sociological concepts within the context of Lacan's readings. * Demonstrates the importance of Marxist concepts to Lacanian psychoanalytic practice. * Brings together a broad range of international contributors on the cutting edge of researching Marxist / Lacanian encounters. * Will appeal to psychoanalysts as well as academics and researchers in a broad range of fields.

Taking a broadly interdisciplinary approach, this book provides a unique angle on the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for global theory and practice. The book bridges two important debates regarding the relevance of quantum theory to the social sciences, and the pressing need for a more global international relations (IR). It brings the parallels between quantum physics and ancient Asian traditions - Daoism, Buddhism and Hinduism - to an investigation of mind, action and strategy in conditions of radical uncertainty. Engaging with both theory and real-world problems, including climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and economic and racial inequality, this book explores what it might mean to successfully navigate the potentials of a post-pandemic world.

A new reading of The Prince, arguing that the classic text is neither a scientific treatise on politics nor a patriotic tract but rather an artful, elaborated critique of the dominant religion of his time The leading interpretations of The Prince focus on Machiavelli's historical context, but they give little attention to the source on which the moral and political thought of Machiavelli's sixteenth century was based, the Christian Bible. In this study of The Prince, William Parsons plumbs Machiavelli's allusions to the Bible, along with his statements on the Church, and shows that Machiavelli was a careful reader of the Bible and an astute observer of the Church. On this basis Parsons contends that Machiavelli's teaching in The Prince is instructively compared with that of the Church's teacher, Jesus Christ. Parsons thus undertakes what recent interpreters of The Prince have not done: contrast Machiavelli's advice with the teaching of Christ. The result is a new reading of The Prince, revealing in Machiavelli's political thought a systematic critique of the NewTestament and its model for human life, Christ. In this commentary on one of the greatest works on politics ever written, Parsons not only challenges the most recent interpretations of The Prince but also sheds new light onthe classic interpretation that Machiavelli was a teacher of immorality. William Parsons is associate professor of political science at Carroll College.

Politics: The Key Concepts is an up-to-date and broad-ranging introduction to the terms that lie at the heart of political discourse. Entries are drawn from areas such as political theory, international politics, political science and methodology. As well as explaining core, established principles, this informative guide explores some of the more complex, topical and contested concepts from the world of politics. Concepts covered include: Capitalism Class Identity Institutionalism Referendum Marxism Pluralism Postmodernism Socialism Social Constructivism In an accessible A-Z format with helpful cross-referencing and suggestions for further reading, Politics: The Key Concepts is an invaluable reference for all students of politics, international relations and related courses.

Gramsci's Prison Notebooks are one of the most important and original sources of modern political philosophy but the Prison Notebooks present great difficulties to the reader. Not originally intended for publication, their fragmentary character and their often cryptic language can mystify readers, leading to misinterpretation of the text. The Routledge Guidebook to Gramsci's Prison Notebooks provides readers with the historical background, textual analysis and other relevant information needed for a greater understanding and appreciation of this classic text. This guidebook: Explains the arguments presented by Gramsci in a clear and straightforward way, analysing the key concepts of the notebooks. Situates Gramsci's ideas in the context of his own time, and in the history of political thought demonstrating the innovation and originality of the Prison Notebooks. Provides critique and analysis of Gramsci's conceptualisation of politics and history (and culture in general), with reference to contemporary (i.e. present-day) examples where relevant. Examines the relevance of Gramsci in the modern world and discusses why his ideas have such resonance in academic discourse Featuring historical and political examples to illustrate Gramsci's arguments, along with suggestions for further reading, this is an invaluable guide for anyone who wants to engage more fully with The Prison Notebooks

Radicalism is as American as apple pie. One can scarcely imagine what American society would look like without the abolitionists, feminists, union organizers, civil rights workers, gay and lesbian activists, and environmentalists who have fought to breathe life into the promises of freedom and equality, the lifeblood of American democracy.

"This book contributes significantly ot the conversation seeking to understand the international forces at play in the threatening war on Iraq."
--Nelson Mandela

"Behind the Invasion of Iraq . . .synthesizes the seemingly disparate threads of the U.S. war drive in a blistering indictment of American foreign policy . . .The effect is of puzzle pieces clicking into place."
--Counterpunch

Since September 11, 2001, there have been many accounts of the ways in which the alignment of global power is changing or will be changed by the U.S.'s "war on terrorism." Most of them take as their starting point the options facing the wealthy and powerful nations of the world seeking to control an ever larger share of the world's resources. Behind the Invasion of Iraq is written from a different perspective, and one that makes possible a far more comprehensive point of view.

Its authors, Research Unit for Political Economy, are rooted in the politics of a Third World country--India--which has long been on the receiving end of imperialist power. As a consequence, they have a more sober view of the workings of global power. In clear and accessible prose, weighing the evidence carefully and tracing events to their root causes, they move beyond moral outrage to a clear view of the process being set in motion by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. They show that the invasion of Iraq is a desperate gamble by a section of the U.S. ruling elite to preserve their power, driven by the wish to stave off economic crisis through military means. Their efforts will not end with Iraq, but will require the recolonization of the middle East.

Behind the Invasion of Iraq exposes the idea that war will bring democracy to the Middle East as so much propaganda. In a context where so many rulers are themselves clients of the United States, the war is aimed not at the rulers but at the masses of ordinary people whose hostility to imperialism has not been broken even by corrupt and autocratic rulers. This book describes the remaking of global power with a truly global awareness of what is at stake.

This book provides a comparative analysis and a systemic categorization of the Populist Radical Left Parties (PRLPs) in Western Europe. Institutional and socio-economic aspects have transformed the political culture of many modern democracies, leading to the creation of radical left-wing parties who, by combining a strongly populist political offer with the historical demands of the traditional left wing, are capable of electoral success. This book analyzes a range of different Populist Radical Left Parties (PRLPs) in Western Europe through in-depth case studies. The author uses statutes, internal documents, programs, election results, membership data, and international political literature combined with interviews with executives and national secretaries to describe and interpret the main features of PRLPs, their paths of formation and political transformation. This volume will appeal to scholars and students of political science and political sociology, media studies and anyone interested in trying to better understand European populism and the distinctions among its different forms.