Political theory is a discipline that tries to think critically and imaginatively about questions of political life, but it has struggled to go beyond its original European and American sources. Globalizing this way of thinking has proven difficult, especially if we wish to go beyond decolonization to think about how to use bodies of thought and practice across the whole sweep of human history. In our new textbook, Political Theory: A Global and Comparative Introduction, we propose a groundbreaking new way to teach and learn political theory, which is global and comparative from the very start.

We link questions of political theory from many times and places—such as “what kind of polities offer alternatives to the state?” “How do stories about political origins support political authority”? and “How does ritual practice create social hierarchy but also undermine it?” -- by placing them alongside each other, in ways that are mutually illuminating. Similarity and difference between global bodies of thought and practice do not capture their pre-existing features, but rather come into view by reference to their ideas as they are juxtaposed. In doing so, we avoid simply adding more and more “stuff” to the box that is political theory. Our textbook shows that bringing these global perspectives on board will force us to think differently about all the stuff—and the box.

Author bios:

Leigh Jenco is Professor of Political Theory at the London School of Economics, where she teaches Chinese and postcolonial political theory in the Department of Government. Her recent research examines the political significance of poetry and popular verse in late Ming China.

Paulina Ochoa Espejo is The John L. Nau III Professor of the History and Principles of Democracy in the department of Politics at the University of Virginia (USA). She writes and teaches about popular sovereignty and populism, and borders and territory.

Murad Idris is Associate Professor of Political Theory at the University of Michigan, where he teaches the full history of political thought sequence and classes about international and postcolonial thought. His current projects are about the genealogies of racializing Islam, idioms of hate, and Sayyid Qutb as a theorist of empire.

We will be joined by the following panellists:

Gauri Wagle, Royal Holloway

Kim Hutchings, QMUL

Georgios Varouxakis, QMUL

This event will be followed by a book sale and signing.

This is a free public event open to all.

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How can we teach (and learn) political theory in a global way?