Global Politics: A New Introduction

by Jenny Edkins (Editor), Maja Zehfuss (Editor)

Global New Introduction is an innovative new textbook that provides a completely original way of teaching and learning about world politics. The book engages directly with the issues in global politics that students are most interested in, helping them to understand the key questions and theories and also to develop a critical and inquiring perspective. Key features of Global A New Introduction : Global A New Introduction is an original, groundbreaking, engaged and intellectually stimulating textbook for core courses on world politics, international politics and international relations.

Genres: Politics, International Relations, Nonfiction, Academic, Textbooks

568 pages, Paperback

First published November 28, 2008

Reviews

[Greg Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read two of the chapters. Originally, I picked this book up for the final section "What can we do to change the world?" by Maja Zehfuss. I also read "Why do some people think they know what is good for others?" by Naeem Inayatullah. Both gave me a lot to think about and I'm trying to incorporate the two sections into a project of mine.

The chapter "Why do some people think they know what is good for others?" gave me a lot to think about. I know I have fallen into the mindset of believing I have exclusive knowledge and believe I know what is better for others. I've been more aware of it than in the past.

Maja's chapter notes:
- What is the use of identifying wrongs if we cannot rectify them? The expectation that we must be able to rectify wrongs justifies our thinking about them.
-Power is not something we have. It is something that happens in all social relations because we never have full control.
-Jacques Derrida. Aporia: there is no way forward, the path is blocked. It is impossible to act responsibly towards everyone.
-Thinking about something different can be an intervention to the greater political order.

[Bart · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not read every chapter of this, but overall the picture was pretty clear. In the introduction the editors say that the book wants to prompt you to question your assumptions and think about global politics in a deeper manner. The book succeeds in this mission. The introduction also says that the book will not give any answers. This is blatantly false for most of the chapters. Many chapters do give answers to the questions they raise, and often this is a liberal (American sense of the word), feminist, Marxist and postmodern answer. This is not true in every case, but it is the overall tendency. This made me somewhat skeptic to the conclusions some authors proposed. Also, I think it is the task of an introduction to introduce the new global politics student with a whole range of views, instead of giving a definite answer (which the book does in many cases). A more balanced approach would have benefitted the credibility and fairness of this book.

[Jenifer Longos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm in my first year of IR and read only the chapter "why do we obey". I think it's really educative the way this chapter it's organized. It follows the prompt and shows many examples as well as many authors. Really good as introduction!

[Mills College Library]

327 G5624 2019

[Eelis · Rating 4 out of 5]

4th ed. (2025)
3,5 stars, leaning more towards 4.

[Emi(o˘◡˘o) · Rating 3 out of 5]

it's all connected final boss ( ir version)🗿

[Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book