Description
Rethinking Political Thinkers explores a uniquely diverse set of political thinkers, from traditionally canonical theorists such as Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, and Mill, to marginalized women and thinkers of colour, such as hooks, Du Bois, Butler, Fanon, Firestone, Said, and Goldman. Placing traditional thinkers alongside and in conversation with neglected and unheard voices opens up important debates, and presents political thought in a new light. Each thinker is examined within the contexts of patriarchy, white supremacy, and imperialism, and the relations and structures of race, gender, and class which different theories have reflected, defended, or challenged. The text is organized thematically, rather than simply chronologically, in order to explore central ideas such as social contract theory and its critics, freedom and revolution, the liberal self and black consciousness, colonial domination, and the environment. In each chapter students are encouraged to think through ideas in relation to their everyday experiences, and to understand that political thought occurs in many formats, so that they develop a more inclusive, intercultural, and critical awareness of the development of social and political thought. Original and timely, Rethinking Political Thinkers is designed to support the study of a decolonised political theory curriculum, revitalising political thought as a practice that belongs to us all. The online student resources include links to relevant videos, articles, blogs, and useful websites, which help students further develop their research interests. Additionally, detailed thinker biographies provide further social, political, and cultural context for each theorist covered in the text.
About the Author
Manjeet Ramgotra is a Senior Lecturer in Political Thought, Department of Politics and International Studies at SOAS University of London. Manjeet is an Independent Scholar Fellow of the Independent Social Research Foundation, affiliated with the Department of Politics at QMUL. Her research chronicles a history of republicanism extending from classical European to twentieth-century anti-colonial political thought on which she has published several articles. She is a strong advocate of decolonising the curriculum, and has co-edited a book on Decolonising Curricula and Pedagogy in Higher Education (Routledge, 2021) as well as written blogposts and articles on this subject. Currently, she is working on a project on post-colonial republicanism in India. Manjeet was recently appointed to the Quality Assurance Agency Advisory Board to rewrite the Politics and IR benchmark statement, and is a Trustee on the Political Studies Association executive committee. Simon Choat is Assosciate Professor and Head of the Department of Economics at Kingston University London. He is the author of Marx Through Post-Structuralism: Lyotard, Derrida, Foucault, Deleuze (Continuum, 2010) and Marx's 'Grundrisse: A Reader's Guide' (Bloomsbury, 2016). He has published articles on, amongst other topics, neoliberalism, contemporary anarchism, the philosophers Ernesto Laclau and Michael Sandel, and the theories of the 'new materialists' such as Bruno Latour. He has been teaching political theory for nearly 20 years. He has published research on decolonising the political theory curriculum and is currently collaborating on a comparative study of Politics and Economics curricula at UK universities. He is a member of the Political Economy Research Group at Kingston University and is co-convener of the Political Studies Association specialist group on Political Thought.
Reviews
This well-conceived and well-executed book offers accessible and thoughtful chapters on theorists (including Gandhi, C.L.R. James, DuBois and Fanon) and themes (including black consciousness and colonial domination) that do not usually find a place in political theory textbooks, and yet have been central to political thinking in modern times. It will be welcomed by teachers and students who want to avoid the seemingly incorrigible Eurocentrism of their discipline. * Sanjay Seth, Professor and Director of the Centre for Postcolonial Theory, Goldsmiths, and author of Beyond Reason: Postcolonial Theory and the Social Sciences (OUP 2020). *
The book provides a refreshing overview of key political thinkers, bringing to the fore ideas and authors which have long been unjustly neglected in the discipline and thus offering a richer and more inclusive introduction to the defining questions and debates in political theory. * Dr Davide Schmid, Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK *
Rethinking Political Thinkers answers a long-felt need of students and faculty alike. Through obviously careful planning, Ramgotra and Choat have pulled together a superb resource to restructure political theory curricula so as to bring critical engagement with questions of race, gender, sexuality, and colonialism into university coursespositioning such questions as integral rather than supplemental to understanding the history, present, and future of political theory. Rethinking political Thinkers will very quickly become an essential text for undergraduate courses. * Dr Samantha Frost, Professor, University of Illinois, USA *
This is the dream textbook we have been looking for. It offers a way to rethink the teaching of political theory that does not abandon the canon, but instead expands and interrogates it, situating the thinkers within contemporary concerns. * Dr David Moon, Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Bath, UK *
An excellent volume which can be used to widen the curriculum of political theory to include more diverse authors and cover important subjects such as colonialism, imperialism, slavery, non-Western philosophy, feminism and poststructuralism critiques. Accessible for students, and a clear resource for lecturers keen to vary their teaching, it is a welcome addition to the field. * Dr Charles Devellennes, Senior Lecturer in Political and Social Thought, University of Kent, UK *
This is a ground-breaking introduction to political thought. It offers an indispensable tool for students and teachers and shows how political theory can be taught in a way that respects diversity and shows the radical potential of political thought. * Dr Alasia Nuti, Senior Lecturer, University of York, UK *
This timely volume highlights positive possibilities for the future of political theory and philosophy. By refocusing our attentions on many of those intellectual voices who have usually held them the least, the volume's chapters refuse-in theme and method- to narrowly conform to the accepted modes of the discipline. Indeed, the volume excels in making clear that, should it wish to, political theory and philosophy are eminently capable of allowing for innovations in thought and method drawn from as full an epistemic range as the historical and contemporary world offers. As the editors emphasise, the benefit will be to the discipline and, also, to the intellectual understandings of our societies. Certainly, this volume will inspire new and diverse entrants into political thought- who will, as a result, be unafraid to break and cultivate ever more original ground. * Dr Eniola Anuoluwapo Soyemi, Nuffield College, University of Oxford, UK *
Book Information
ISBN 9780198847397
Author Manjeet Ramgotra
Format Paperback
Page Count 784
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 244mm * 190mm * 30mm
About the Author
Manjeet Ramgotra is a Senior Lecturer in Political Thought, Department of Politics and International Studies at SOAS University of London. Manjeet is an Independent Scholar Fellow of the Independent Social Research Foundation, affiliated with the Department of Politics at QMUL. Her research chronicles a history of republicanism extending from classical European to twentieth-century anti-colonial political thought on which she has published several articles. She is a strong advocate of decolonising the curriculum, and has co-edited a book on Decolonising Curricula and Pedagogy in Higher Education (Routledge, 2021) as well as written blogposts and articles on this subject. Currently, she is working on a project on post-colonial republicanism in India. Manjeet was recently appointed to the Quality Assurance Agency Advisory Board to rewrite the Politics and IR benchmark statement, and is a Trustee on the Political Studies Association executive committee. Simon Choat is Assosciate Professor and Head of the Department of Economics at Kingston University London. He is the author of Marx Through Post-Structuralism: Lyotard, Derrida, Foucault, Deleuze (Continuum, 2010) and Marx's 'Grundrisse: A Reader's Guide' (Bloomsbury, 2016). He has published articles on, amongst other topics, neoliberalism, contemporary anarchism, the philosophers Ernesto Laclau and Michael Sandel, and the theories of the 'new materialists' such as Bruno Latour. He has been teaching political theory for nearly 20 years. He has published research on decolonising the political theory curriculum and is currently collaborating on a comparative study of Politics and Economics curricula at UK universities. He is a member of the Political Economy Research Group at Kingston University and is co-convener of the Political Studies Association specialist group on Political Thought.
Reviews
This well-conceived and well-executed book offers accessible and thoughtful chapters on theorists (including Gandhi, C.L.R. James, DuBois and Fanon) and themes (including black consciousness and colonial domination) that do not usually find a place in political theory textbooks, and yet have been central to political thinking in modern times. It will be welcomed by teachers and students who want to avoid the seemingly incorrigible Eurocentrism of their discipline. * Sanjay Seth, Professor and Director of the Centre for Postcolonial Theory, Goldsmiths, and author of Beyond Reason: Postcolonial Theory and the Social Sciences (OUP 2020). *
The book provides a refreshing overview of key political thinkers, bringing to the fore ideas and authors which have long been unjustly neglected in the discipline and thus offering a richer and more inclusive introduction to the defining questions and debates in political theory. * Dr Davide Schmid, Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK *
Rethinking Political Thinkers answers a long-felt need of students and faculty alike. Through obviously careful planning, Ramgotra and Choat have pulled together a superb resource to restructure political theory curricula so as to bring critical engagement with questions of race, gender, sexuality, and colonialism into university coursespositioning such questions as integral rather than supplemental to understanding the history, present, and future of political theory. Rethinking political Thinkers will very quickly become an essential text for undergraduate courses. * Dr Samantha Frost, Professor, University of Illinois, USA *
This is the dream textbook we have been looking for. It offers a way to rethink the teaching of political theory that does not abandon the canon, but instead expands and interrogates it, situating the thinkers within contemporary concerns. * Dr David Moon, Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Bath, UK *
An excellent volume which can be used to widen the curriculum of political theory to include more diverse authors and cover important subjects such as colonialism, imperialism, slavery, non-Western philosophy, feminism and poststructuralism critiques. Accessible for students, and a clear resource for lecturers keen to vary their teaching, it is a welcome addition to the field. * Dr Charles Devellennes, Senior Lecturer in Political and Social Thought, University of Kent, UK *
This is a ground-breaking introduction to political thought. It offers an indispensable tool for students and teachers and shows how political theory can be taught in a way that respects diversity and shows the radical potential of political thought. * Dr Alasia Nuti, Senior Lecturer, University of York, UK *
This timely volume highlights positive possibilities for the future of political theory and philosophy. By refocusing our attentions on many of those intellectual voices who have usually held them the least, the volume's chapters refuse-in theme and method- to narrowly conform to the accepted modes of the discipline. Indeed, the volume excels in making clear that, should it wish to, political theory and philosophy are eminently capable of allowing for innovations in thought and method drawn from as full an epistemic range as the historical and contemporary world offers. As the editors emphasise, the benefit will be to the discipline and, also, to the intellectual understandings of our societies. Certainly, this volume will inspire new and diverse entrants into political thought- who will, as a result, be unafraid to break and cultivate ever more original ground. * Dr Eniola Anuoluwapo Soyemi, Nuffield College, University of Oxford, UK *
Book Information
ISBN 9780198847397
Author Manjeet Ramgotra
Format Paperback
Page Count 784
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 244mm * 190mm * 30mm
