And Political Theory – serie

Climate change is an ethical failure. Floods, fires, droughts, and extreme weather caused by climate change are already killing people and ruining lives on a massive scale. These avoidable impacts hurt the most vulnerable among us first, and worst. Why have we failed to prevent climate change? How can we mobilise to do better politically, socially, and economically? Where does the greatest responsibility for action lie?In this book, Catriona McKinnon unravels the vital contributions made by engaged political theory to urgent climate challenges left unmet by a lack of political will. These challenges, and our political inertia, cannot be tackled without addressing questions of responsibility, collective duty, fairness, harm, techno-optimism, the value of nature, and the future of humanity. McKinnon’s philosophical analysis is interwoven with discussion of the latest climate science, current politics and policies, and emerging technologies, in order to show that we will not find acceptable routes out of the climate crisis without the compass of political theory.Climate Change and Political Theory provides readers of all backgrounds and levels with a lucid distillation of, and curated guide to, the political theory and ethics of climate change.

Climate change is an ethical failure. Floods, fires, droughts, and extreme weather caused by climate change are already killing people and ruining lives on a massive scale. These avoidable impacts hurt the most vulnerable among us first, and worst. Why have we failed to prevent climate change? How can we mobilise to do better politically, socially, and economically? Where does the greatest responsibility for action lie?In this book, Catriona McKinnon unravels the vital contributions made by engaged political theory to urgent climate challenges left unmet by a lack of political will. These challenges, and our political inertia, cannot be tackled without addressing questions of responsibility, collective duty, fairness, harm, techno-optimism, the value of nature, and the future of humanity. McKinnon’s philosophical analysis is interwoven with discussion of the latest climate science, current politics and policies, and emerging technologies, in order to show that we will not find acceptable routes out of the climate crisis without the compass of political theory.Climate Change and Political Theory provides readers of all backgrounds and levels with a lucid distillation of, and curated guide to, the political theory and ethics of climate change.

In a world that continues to be riven by armed conflict, the fundamental moral and political questions raised by warfare are as important as ever. Under what circumstances are we justified in going to war? Can conflicts be waged in a ‘moral’ way? Is war an inevitable feature of a world driven by power politics? What are the new ethical challenges raised by new weapons and technology, from drones to swarming attack robots?This book is an engaging and up-to-date examination of these questions and more, penned by a foremost expert in the field. Using many historical cases, it examines all the core disputes and doctrines, ranging from realism to pacifism, from just war theory and international law, to feminism and the democratic peace thesis. Its scope stretches from the primordial causes and perennial drivers of war to the cyber-centric space-age future of armed conflict in the 21st century.War and Political Theory is essential reading for anyone, whether advanced expert or undergraduate, who wants to understand the pressing empirical realities and theoretical issues, historical and contemporary, associated with armed conflict.

In a world that continues to be riven by armed conflict, the fundamental moral and political questions raised by warfare are as important as ever. Under what circumstances are we justified in going to war? Can conflicts be waged in a ‘moral’ way? Is war an inevitable feature of a world driven by power politics? What are the new ethical challenges raised by new weapons and technology, from drones to swarming attack robots?This book is an engaging and up-to-date examination of these questions and more, penned by a foremost expert in the field. Using many historical cases, it examines all the core disputes and doctrines, ranging from realism to pacifism, from just war theory and international law, to feminism and the democratic peace thesis. Its scope stretches from the primordial causes and perennial drivers of war to the cyber-centric space-age future of armed conflict in the 21st century.War and Political Theory is essential reading for anyone, whether advanced expert or undergraduate, who wants to understand the pressing empirical realities and theoretical issues, historical and contemporary, associated with armed conflict.

Western political theory typically incorporates certain assumptions about sex and gender as natural, unvarying and “pre-political.”  This book critically examines these assumptions and shows how recent scholarship undermines the illusion that bodies exist outside politics and beyond the reach of the state.Leading political theorist Mary Hawkesworth’s cutting-edge intersectional account demonstrates how popular conceptions of human nature, public and private, citizenship, liberty, the state, and injustice relegate women, people of color, sexual minorities, and gender-variant people to inferior status despite constitutional guarantees of equality before the law. Hawkesworth argues that traditional political theory has contributed to the perpetuation of pernicious forms of injustice by masking the state’s role in the creation of subordinated and stigmatized subjects.The book draws insights from critical race, feminist, postcolonial, queer, and trans* theory to give a compelling, original, and highly readable introduction to historical and contemporary debates on gender and political theory for students.

Western political theory typically incorporates certain assumptions about sex and gender as natural, unvarying and “pre-political.”  This book critically examines these assumptions and shows how recent scholarship undermines the illusion that bodies exist outside politics and beyond the reach of the state.Leading political theorist Mary Hawkesworth’s cutting-edge intersectional account demonstrates how popular conceptions of human nature, public and private, citizenship, liberty, the state, and injustice relegate women, people of color, sexual minorities, and gender-variant people to inferior status despite constitutional guarantees of equality before the law. Hawkesworth argues that traditional political theory has contributed to the perpetuation of pernicious forms of injustice by masking the state’s role in the creation of subordinated and stigmatized subjects.The book draws insights from critical race, feminist, postcolonial, queer, and trans* theory to give a compelling, original, and highly readable introduction to historical and contemporary debates on gender and political theory for students.

Migration dominates contemporary politics across the world, and there has been a corresponding surge in political theorizing about the complex issues that it raises. In a world in which borders seem to be solidifying while the number of displaced people soars, how should we think about the political and ethical implications of human movement across the globe?In this book, Gillian Brock, one of the leading figures in the field, lucidly introduces and explains the important historical, empirical, and normative context necessary to get to grips with the major contemporary debates. She examines issues ranging from the permissibility of controlling borders and the criteria that states can justifiably use to underpin their migration management policies through to questions of integration, inclusion, and resistance to unjust immigration laws.Migration and Political Theory is essential reading for any student, scholar, or general reader who seeks to understand the political theory and ethics of migration and movement in the twenty-first century.

Migration dominates contemporary politics across the world, and there has been a corresponding surge in political theorizing about the complex issues that it raises. In a world in which borders seem to be solidifying while the number of displaced people soars, how should we think about the political and ethical implications of human movement across the globe?In this book, Gillian Brock, one of the leading figures in the field, lucidly introduces and explains the important historical, empirical, and normative context necessary to get to grips with the major contemporary debates. She examines issues ranging from the permissibility of controlling borders and the criteria that states can justifiably use to underpin their migration management policies through to questions of integration, inclusion, and resistance to unjust immigration laws.Migration and Political Theory is essential reading for any student, scholar, or general reader who seeks to understand the political theory and ethics of migration and movement in the twenty-first century.

Is politics necessarily violent? Does the justifiability of violence depend on whether it is perpetrated to defend or upend the existing order – or perhaps on the way in which it is conducted? Is violence simply direct physical harm, or can it also be structural, symbolic, or epistemic? In this book, Elizabeth Frazer and Kimberley Hutchings explore how political theorists, from Niccolo Machiavelli to Elaine Scarry, have addressed these issues. They engage with both defenders and critics of violence in politics, analysing their diverse justificatory and rhetorical strategies in order to draw out the enduring themes of these debates. They show how political theorists have tended to evade the central difficulties raised by violence by either reducing it to a neutral tool or identifying it with something quite distinct, such as justice or virtue. They argue that, because violence is necessarily wrapped up with hierarchical and exclusive structures and imaginaries, legitimising it in terms of the ends that it serves, or how it is perpetrated, no longer makes sense. This book will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars in areas ranging from the ethics of terror and war to radical and revolutionary political thought.