4th Edition
Global Politics A New Introduction
Global Politics: A New Introduction engages directly with questions that those coming to the study of world politics bring with them. From that innovative starting point, it explores key issues through a critical and inquiring perspective, presenting theoretical ideas and concepts in conjunction with a global range of historical and contemporary case studies.
Revised and updated throughout, the fourth edition offers examples engaging with the latest developments in global politics: the climate crisis and anthropocentrism, Indigenous experiences and thinking, racism and the rise of xenophobia, artificial intelligence, citizen journalism, global health and pandemic response, and drone warfare.
Global Politics:
• examines most significant issues in global politics –poverty, development, colonialism, human rights, gender, inequality, race, war, peacebuilding, security, violence, nationalism, authority and what we can do to change the world;
• offers chapters written to a common structure 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, drawing on international relations, political theory, postcolonial studies, sociology, geography, peace studies and development.
This exciting, up-to-date and ground-breaking textbook is essential reading for all those concerned about global politics.
1 Introduction
Jenny Edkins, Maja Zehfuss and Thomas Gregory
2 How do we begin to think about the world?
Lucy Taylor
3 Why do some people think they know what is good for others?
Naeem Inayatullah
4 When do we think global politics began?
Brieg Powel
5 What happens if we don’t take nature for granted?
Stefanie Fishel
6 Can we save the planet?
Carl Death
7 Who do we think we are?
Annick T. R. Wibben
8 How do religious beliefs affect politics?
Peter Mandaville
9 Why do we obey?
Jenny Edkins
10 How do we find out what’s going on in the world?
Debbie Lisle
11 What does AI do to politics?
Louise Amoore
12 Why is people’s movement restricted?
Somdeep Sen
13 Where do we think we are from?
Elena Barabantseva
14 Does the nation-state work?
Michael J. Shapiro
15 How is the world organized economically?
Maria Tanyag
16 How does colonialism work?
Sankaran Krishna
17 Do colonialism and slavery belong to the past?
Kate Manzo
18 How does finance affect the politics of everyday life?
Matt Davies
19 How can we end poverty?
Mustapha Kamal Pasha
20 Why does politics turn to violence?
Joanna Bourke
21 What makes the world dangerous?
Thomas Gregory
22 Can we move beyond conflict?
Roland Bleiker and David Shim
23 Who has rights?
Giorgio Shani
24 Conclusion: What can we do to change the world?
Maja Zehfuss
Biography
Jenny Edkins is Honorary Professor of Politics at The University of Manchester, and Professor Emeritus at Aberystwyth University, UK.
Maja Zehfuss is Professor of International Politics at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Thomas Gregory is Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Praise for This Edition
“This is one of the most innovative, engaging and expansive textbooks for teaching and learning about global politics. The toughest challenge for educators these days is to encourage critical thinking on global issues, and this book has always made it possible through integration of theory and praxis, illustrative examples and addressing contemporary questions and debates. We have been using this extensively in our IR courses at Gothenburg, and it is hugely popular among students. What a gift this 4th edition will be!” Swati Parashar, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
“I initially read this book as a Masters student and was struck by the openness of the chapters. Each chapter asks questions relating to global politics, and these questions provoke critical thinking. As a PhD student and TA, I taught from this textbook on an introduction to IR module. It uses relevant examples that engage students, and it is written in a way that is accessible. I find that the way in which it poses questions enables students to feel they can - and should - employ their own critical thinking to understand the political issues of our time. Global Politics is thought-provoking, warm, and challenging.” Zeenat Sabur, third year PhD candidate, University of Manchester, UK
“Global Politics: A New Introduction shows how students’ critical thinking begins with questioning the established political, social and economic structures. It calls for unlearning the traditional boundaries of the discipline and encourages us to rethink conventional narratives about when global politics began, what it is, and how it operates.” Umut Ozguc, Macquarie University, Australia
“This fourth edition is quite simply the best introduction to global politics available today. Its fearless originality, global orientation, and radical interdisciplinarity will leave you questioning every aspect of the world around you. If you are not satisfied with superficial understandings of socio-economic challenges such as poverty, racism, migration, or predictive AI, then this is the book you have been waiting to encounter” – Nick Vaughan-Williams, University of Birmingham, UK
"This is the book that gets students reading, thinking and talking! It poses the questions central to the practices of global politics and pushes the boundaries of how we understand those processes. Crucially it encourages us to rethink about what constitutes the 'global' and what 'politics' involves." Stephen Hobden, University of East London, UK
"I have been using this book for undergraduate teaching since the first edition was published. This newest edition has made a good thing even better. Using up-to-date illustrative examples, the chapters offer theoretically-rich, innovative yet accessible introductions to key ideas in the study of global politics. This remarkable volume goes beyond the familiar stories about International Relations, challenging students to think critically not only about the answers, but about the questions we ask about the way the world works." - Fiona Robinson, Carleton University, Canada.
"Global Politics’ is the only IR textbook that works outside of the West. Having taught at international universities in Asia and the Middle East, I have seen first-hand how warmly it is received by students from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, Palestine, Syria, Myanmar, India, China and Japan, among others. This book engages with issues students care about and forces them to think outside of the sanitized and safe box of Western IR theories." Herman T. Salton, ICU University, Japan
