Political Theorists In Context

Focusing on the historical context in which political theorists have developed their thinking, this textbook provides an invaluable introduction to students of political thought. The authors address a series of canonical major thinkers in the context of three world-changing epochs: the English, French and Industrial revolutions. The theorists' ideas are assessed with reference to the politics of their time and show how they responded to, or interacted with, the political events and issues of their day.

This exciting new textbook presents a clear framework for students to understand how themes and issues in political thought have emerged and developed throughout the 20th Century. Charting the progression from the preoccupation with the boundaries of the modern state, through to the current debates on rights, identity and justice; the three sections of the book enable the ideas of significant political thinkers to unfold through a telling of the key political events that gave a social context for their thought: Section I: The Inter-War Debate: Weber, Gramsci and Schmitt Section II: Post-War Debates: Arendt, Oakeshott, De Beauvoir and Adorno Section III: Contemporary Debates: Rawls, Nozick, Kymlicka and Foucault Written in an accessible and concise format, features include: 'rewind' and 'fast-forward' indicators to easily guide students around the text discussion points, revision notes and further reading in each chapter informative text boxes to highlight key concepts, people and events. By exploring an often ignored relationship in political thought, the influence of thought upon historical change and the influence of historical change upon theory, this text delivers new and exciting angles from which to approach politics today. Contemporary Political Theorists in Context is essential reading for all students of social and political theory.

Oxford Handbooks of Political Science are the essential guide to the state of political science today. With engaging contributions from 51 major international scholars, the Oxford Handbook of Political Theory provides the key point of reference for anyone working in political theory and beyond.

This exciting new textbook presents a clear framework for students to understand how themes and issues in political thought have emerged and developed throughout the 20th Century. Charting the progression from the preoccupation with the boundaries of the modern state, through to the current debates on rights, identity and justice; the three sections of the book enable the ideas of significant political thinkers to unfold through a telling of the key political events that gave a social context for their thought: Section I: The Inter-War Debate: Weber, Gramsci and Schmitt Section II: Post-War Debates: Arendt, Oakeshott, De Beauvoir and Adorno Section III: Contemporary Debates: Rawls, Nozick, Kymlicka and Foucault Written in an accessible and concise format, features include: 'rewind' and 'fast-forward' indicators to easily guide students around the text discussion points, revision notes and further reading in each chapter informative text boxes to highlight key concepts, people and events. By exploring an often ignored relationship in political thought, the influence of thought upon historical change and the influence of historical change upon theory, this text delivers new and exciting angles from which to approach politics today. Contemporary Political Theorists in Context is essential reading for all students of social and political theory.

As disciplines, Politics and International Relations remain dominated by ideas drawn from traditions of liberal internationalism and political realism in which political imagination is preoccupied with command and order, rather than with disruption and emancipation. Yet, they have failed to offer adequate answers to why political action is foreclosed in contemporary times. Proposed through a historically informed engagement with seminal thinkers, including Walter Benjamin, Friedrich Nietzsche, Gilles Deleuze, and Michel Foucault, and examples from films and contemporary events, Ali Rıza Taşkale presents an original and much needed new perspective to interpret politics in our contemporary societies. He argues that post-politics is a counterrevolutionary logic which aims to create a society without conflict, struggle and radical systemic change. Post-Politics in Context serves as seminal intervention upon the debate over the depoliticised conditions of contemporary neoliberal society as well as functioning as an introduction to the core theoretical frameworks of alternative tradition of social and political thought in a manner that is lacking in current debates about Politics and International Relations.

Content Description pt. 1. Invoking political theory. Political theory : from vocation to invocation / Sheldon S. Wolin -- pt. 2. Theorizing loss. Specters and angels at the end of history / Wendy Brown -- The politics of nostalgia and theories of loss / J. Peter Euben -- pt. 3. Thinking in time. Can theorists make time for belief? / Russell Arben Fox -- The history of political thought as a vocation : a pragmatist defense / David Paul Mandell -- pt. 4. The politics of ordinary life. Political theory for losers / Thomas L. Dumm -- Feminism's flight from the ordinary / Linda M.B. Zerilli -- pt. 5. Political knowledge. Conceptions of science in political theory : a tale of cloaks and daggers / Mark B. Brown -- Political theory as a provocation : an ethos of political theory / Lon Troyer -- Gramsci, organic intellectuals, and cultural studies : lessons for political theorists? / Shane Gunster -- pt. 6. Practicing political theory. Reading the body : hobbes, body politics, and the task of political theory / Samantha Frost -- Work, shame, and the chain gang : the new civic education / Jill Locke -- The nobility of democracy / William E. Connolly.

Mr Dunn addresses the central questions of political philosophy from an unusually broad variety of perspectives.