Political Theory

China’s vision for international order is a matter of great global interest. This book analyses China’s vision for foreign policy and how it is seeking to achieve its goals with its immediate neighbours.

Using analysis from machine readings of all legislation enacted between 1900 and 2015, this book discusses the social impact of increasingly elastic legislative language on the contemporary workings of the British constitution.

Exploring the significance of Norbert Elias’s reflections on civilization for international relations, this book explains the working principles of an Eliasian approach to civilization and demonstrates how the interdependencies between state-formation, colonialism and an emergent international society shaped the European 'civilizing process.'

Examining the post-Cold War period, this book sets out to explain why and when US presidents choose to use force. It develops new explanations for variation in the use of force in US foreign policy by theorizing and demonstrating the effects of the displacement and repression of ideas within and across different US Presidential administrations.

This book reviews the formative years of the United Nations (UN) under its first Secretary-General Trygve Lie.

In 1979, Margaret Thatcher’s new government pursued a monetarist economic policy in response to double-digit inflation, rising unemployment and flatlining economic growth. Tim Lankester's insider’s account offers fascinating insights into one of Britain's most unsuccessful economic episodes and also examines monetarism's legacy today.

This book defines what political social media is and then takes a morphological approach to investigate political ideologies and reveal the ways in which interconnected concepts are arranged. It concludes by coining the term ‘proto-ideologies’ to approach the construction of concepts that generate ideologies in the making.

Drawing on theoretical and empirical studies, this book offers a unique and timely reformulation of socialism adapted to current challenges. It makes explicit the ‘silent utopia’ of intersectionality theory and lays the conceptual groundwork for an emancipatory politics.

This volume investigates the relationship between nostalgia and contemporary social issues. From history and political theory to marketing and media, each chapter discusses the way nostalgia has been presented within a specific disciplinary context and shows how nostalgia as a topic of research has evolved over time.

Governments conveniently blame social problems on their citizens, placing too much emphasis on personal responsibility. This book shows that ‘nudging’ citizens to better behaviour simply isn’t good enough and explains why we should hold our politicians responsible for social problems.

Fowler provides an innovative critical exploration of ethical issues in children’s upbringing through the lens of political philosophy, calling for a radical new understanding of what constitutes wellbeing, the duties of parents and the collective obligations of state and society in guaranteeing children flourishing lives.

Revisiting philosophical developments, historical figures and events, including Adam Smith, colonialism and modernity, this interdisciplinary book presents a ‘loving critique’ of society. It shows how learning to love better is key to releasing ourselves from the alienating grip of the market.