Global Politics

The third edition of Global Politics: A New Introduction continues to provide a completely original way of teaching and learning about world politics. The book engages directly with the issues in global politics that students are most interested in, helping them to understand the key questions and theories and also to develop a critical and inquiring perspective. Completely revised and updated throughout, the third edition offers up-to-date examples engaging with the latest developments in global politics, including the Syrian war and the refugee crisis, fossil fuel divestment, racism and Black Lives Matter, citizen journalism, populism, and drone warfare. Global Politics: examines the most significant issues in global politics – from war, peacebuilding, terrorism, security, violence, nationalism and authority to poverty, development, postcolonialism, human rights, gender, inequality, ethnicity and what we can do to change the world; offers chapters written to a common structure, which is ideal for teaching and learning, and features a key question, an illustrative example, general responses and broader issues; integrates theory and practice throughout the text, by presenting theoretical ideas and concepts in conjunction with a global range of historical and contemporary case studies. Drawing on theoretical perspectives from a broad range of disciplines, including international relations, political theory, postcolonial studies, sociology, geography, peace studies and development, this innovative textbook is essential reading for all students of global politics and international relations.

In the 1960s and 1970s, in the midst of the Cold War and an international decolonization movement, development advocates believed that poverty could be ended, at home and abroad. The Global Politics of Poverty in Canada explores the relationship between poverty, democracy, and development during this remarkable period. Will Langford analyzes three Canadian development programs that unfolded on local, regional, and international scales. He reveals the interconnections of anti-poverty activism carried out by the Company of Young Canadians among Métis in northern Alberta and francophones in Montreal, by the Cape Breton Development Corporation, and by Canadian University Service Overseas in Tanzania. In dialogue with the New Left, liberal reformers committed to development programs they believed would empower the poor to confront their own poverty and thereby foster a more meaningful democracy. However, democracy and development proved to be fundamentally contested, and development programs stopped short of amending capitalist social relations and the inequalities they engendered. The Global Politics of Poverty in Canada explores how Canadians engaged in informal and formal politics in the course of their everyday lives, locally and transnationally. Langford provides an enduring record of otherwise fleeting anti-poverty programs and their effects: the lived activism and opinions of development workers and ordinary people.

What would international relations look like if our theories and analyses began with individuals, families, and communities instead of executives, nation-states, and militaries? After all, it is people who make up cities, states, and corporations, and it is their beliefs and behaviors that explain why some parts of the world seem so peaceful while others appear so violent, why some societies are so rich while others are so poor. Now in a fully updated and revised edition, this unique text on contemporary global politics begins with people, treating them as "social individuals" with free will and human agency even as they are limited and disciplined by rules and rulers. Offering a fresh approach to global politics, this dynamic author team trades perspectives with each other and with such eminent social theorists as Michel Foucault and Hannah Arendt to develop their resonant theme. Using practical examples as well as theory, the authors show students how they can take charge of their lives and the politics that affect them, even in the context of a vast global economy and impersonal international forces that sometimes seem out of control. Filled with idealism, yet firmly grounded in current realities, Global Politics as if People Mattered is a fresh take on the proper place and potential of individuals in world politics—front and center, actively engaged in a way of life that is as politically personal as it is politically powerful. This distinctive text, a perfect reading for lower-division politics courses, helps students to carve out their own political space in the contemporary global order.

We live in a visual age. Images and visual artefacts shape international events and our understanding of them. Photographs, film and television influence how we view and approach phenomena as diverse as war, diplomacy, financial crises and election campaigns. Other visual fields, from art and cartoons to maps, monuments and videogames, frame how politics is perceived and enacted. Drones, satellites and surveillance cameras watch us around the clock and deliver images that are then put to political use. Add to this that new technologies now allow for a rapid distribution of still and moving images around the world. Digital media platforms, such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, play an important role across the political spectrum, from terrorist recruitment drives to social justice campaigns. This book offers the first comprehensive engagement with visual global politics. Written by leading experts in numerous scholarly disciplines and presented in accessible and engaging language, Visual Global Politics is a one-stop source for students, scholars and practitioners interested in understanding the crucial and persistent role of images in today’s world.

Few notions are as universal as the idea of a left-right divide in politics. Despite its death being frequently foretold, the left-right metaphor remains the most common lens through which to interpret political life locally, nationally and globally. Left and Right in Global Politics argues that the left-right divide connects these different levels into a world political debate. Interpreting the left-right dichotomy as an enduring debate about equality, Noël and Thérien analyse opinion polls and social discourses to demonstrate how this debate shapes both individual and collective views of public affairs. Setting their findings in a historical perspective, they then show that for more than two centuries the conflict between progressives and conservatives has structured both domestic and international politics. They conclude by discussing the implications of their argument for the analysis of world politics, and contend that the left-right opposition is here to stay.

This book examines how Indigenous peoples’ rights and Indigenous rights movements represent an important and often overlooked shift in international politics - a shift that powerful states are actively resisting in a multitude of ways. While Indigenous peoples are often dismissed as marginal non-state actors, this book argues that far from insignificant, global Indigenous politics is potentially forging major changes in the international system, as the implementation of Indigenous peoples’ rights requires a complete re-thinking and re-ordering of sovereignty, territoriality, liberalism, and human rights. After thirty years of intense effort, the transnational Indigenous rights movement achieved passage of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in September 2007. This book asks: Why did movement need to fight so hard to secure passage of a bare minimum standard on Indigenous rights? Why is it that certain states are so threatened by an emerging international Indigenous rights regime? How does the emerging Indigenous rights regime change the international status quo? The questions are addressed by exploring how Indigenous politics at the global level compels a new direction of thought in IR by challenging some of its fundamental tenets. It is argued that global Indigenous politics is a perspective of IR that, with the recognition of Indigenous peoples’ collective rights to land and self-determination, complicates the structure of international politics in new and important ways, challenging both Westphalian notions of state sovereignty and the (neo-)liberal foundations of states and the international human rights consensus. Qualitative case studies of Canadian and New Zealand Indigenous rights, based on original field research, analyse both the potential and the limits of these challenges. This work will be of interest to graduates and scholars in international relations, Indigenous studies, international organizations, IR theory and social movements.

Equipping teachers and learners to succeed in Global Politics from day 1, this student Course Book has been developed directly with the IB. Helping to develop politically engaged learners who can think critically about the changing 21st Century world, you can rely on it providing the most comprehensive coverage of this subject. Embracing a truly concept-based approach, fully in line with the syllabus, and structured around the central theme of People, Power and Politics, it ensures learners develop critical understanding of big picture political issues, problems and solutions. Fully cover the syllabus - written by syllabus developer and UNESCO Chair in Human and Cultural Rights Max Kirsch and developed directly with the IB Adopt a fully concept-based approach - the truly concept-based structure drives trans-disciplinary understanding Build critical thought - student-centered activities drive exploration and analysis Relate politics to the real world - a rich base of current, engaging case-studies ensures subject material is immediately relevant to learners own experiences Equip learners for assessment - assessment support directly from the IB accurately prepares students to achieve in exams

In turbulent global times, your study of this subject is increasingly necessary and urgent. Featuring a new chapter on critical theories, and revised to take a less Eurocentric approach to concepts and case studies, this new edition allows you to tackle global politics' important concepts, debates and problems: -How can theories help us to understand the politics of a global pandemic? -Do we live in a 'post-truth' world of 'fake news' and disinformation? -Does international aid work? -Does the United States remain a global hegemon? -What is the Anthropocene and how does it shape global politics? -Are global politics constrained by a 'North-South' divide? -What are the possible futures of global politics – and the politics of outer space? Delving into topics as diverse as anarchy, intersectionality, Confucianism, and neoconservatism, boxed features give you confidence in political analysis: -Focus on: learn more about the global colour line or the tragedy of the commons -Key figures: discuss the ideas of Hans Morgenthau, Frantz Fanon or bell hooks -Debating: argue whether the United Nations are obsolete, or whether nuclear weapons promote peace -Global politics in action: apply your learning to the migration crisis in Europe or the Arab Spring -Approaches to: consider human rights or the Covid-19 pandemic from the perspective of realist, liberal, postcolonial, Marxist, feminist, constructivist and post-structuralist theory -Global actors: understand the significance of Black Lives Matter, Amnesty International or the International Monetary Fund. Spanning the development of global politics, from the early origins of globalization through to the return of multipolarity in the twenty-first century, this is an essential text for undergraduates studying global politics and international relations.