Chris Sparks – författare

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 SchmittSection II: Post-War Debates: Arendt, Oakeshott, De Beauvoir and AdornoSection III: Contemporary Debates: Rawls, Nozick, Kymlicka and FoucaultWritten in an accessible and concise format, features include:'rewind' and 'fast-forward' indicators to easily guide students around the textdiscussion points, revision notes and further reading in each chapterinformative 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.

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 SchmittSection II: Post-War Debates: Arendt, Oakeshott, De Beauvoir and AdornoSection III: Contemporary Debates: Rawls, Nozick, Kymlicka and FoucaultWritten in an accessible and concise format, features include:'rewind' and 'fast-forward' indicators to easily guide students around the textdiscussion points, revision notes and further reading in each chapterinformative 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.

A fresh examination of the Cathar heresy, using the records of inquisitorial tribunals to bring out new details of life at the time.Religion amongst ordinary men and women in Languedoc in the High Middle Ages is the subject of this book. Focusing on laypeople attached to the Cathar movement, it investigates the interplay between heresy and orthodoxy, and between spiritual and secular concerns, in people's lives, charting the ways in which these developed through life cycle: childhood, youth, marriage and death.This period was one of great upheaval in the region, brought about bythe Church's response to the perceived threat of heresy, and the book also explores the effects of the Albigensian Crusaders and the inquisitors who followed in their wake. It draws on a large range of evidence, including civic and ecclesiastical legislation, contemporary literature and chronicle, and broader scholarship on the region, but its principal sources are the records of inquisitorial tribunals that operated between 1190 and 1330: transcripts of interview and sentencing which represent the closest thing that exists to an oral history of the period. The author teases out the vibrant detail with which these archives document people's lives, developing and illustrating his argument through the recounting of their stories.Chris Sparks gained his doctorate from the University of York; he now works at Queen Mary University of London.