Global Politics as if People Mattered (New Millennium Books in International Studies)

By Mary Ann Tétreault, Ronnie D. Lipschutz, Ronnie Lipschutz

Book Overview

What would international relations look like if our theories and analyses began with individuals, families, and communities instead of executives, nation-states, and militaries? After all, it is people who make up cities, states, and corporations, and it is their beliefs and behaviors that explain why some parts of the world seem so peaceful while others appear so violent, why some societies are so rich while others are so poor. This unique look at contemporary global politics begins with people, treating them as 'social individuals' with free will and human agency even as they are limited and disciplined by rules and rulers. Offering a fresh approach to global politics, this dynamic author team trades perspectives with each other and with such eminent social theorists as Michel Foucault and Hannah Arendt to develop their resonant theme. Using practical examples as well as theory, the authors show students how they can take charge of their lives and the politics that affect them, even in the context of a vast global economy and impersonal international forces that sometimes seem out of control. Filled with idealism, yet firmly grounded in current realities, Global Politics as if People Mattered is a fresh take on the proper place and potential of individuals in world politics_front and center, actively engaged in a way of life that is as politically personal as it is politically powerful. Helping students and others to carve out their own political space in the contemporary global order is a major aim of this unusual text.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0742510905
• ISBN13: 9780742510906
• Release Date: February 2005
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.0" x 0.5" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

it's not all about feminism

I really must differ with the other reviewer who claimed that the book is 'all about feminism'. (What book was he reading?) Many themes are threaded through the book. Feminism is indeed one of these, but scarcely the dominant chord. Instead, the narrative is a sweeping look at the modern world. Giving a discourse [somewhat quickly maybe] on the rise of the nation state. The focus is on current global affairs, emphasising the roles that individuals can play in a nation. Here the book is distinct from many texts on international relations that talk about sweeping trends and movements, and which mention individuals often only in the context of naming leaders. It does look at what it calls individualism, as expressed in the free market capitalist belief ideology which motivates or "inspires" the global economy. This is decried as leading to excesses of speculation and recession. In a contemporaneous note, we are currently in 2009, in a world recession. The authors' remarks might well be agreeable to many readers, American or otherwise.