Harry Potter and International Relations

by Daniel H. Nexon (Editor), Iver B. Neumann (Editor)

Why not take seriously the claim that Harry Potter's world intertwines with our own? In this timely yet otherworldly volume, more than a dozen scholars of international relations join hands to demonstrate how this well-loved artifact of popular culture reflects and shapes our own lifeworld. A wide range of historical and sociological sources shows how Harry's world contains aspects of our own. Practices such as quidditch dovetail quite clearly with "muggle" sports, and the very British-ness of the books has, in translation into languages such as Turkish and Arabic, been transformed to reflect these unique cultures. Chapters on the political economy of the franchise as well as the scholarly problems of studying popular culture frame what is essentially a highly info-taining read.

Genres: Harry Potter, Nonfiction, International Relations, Politics, Sociology

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

i thought this book was very well done and well thought out. I have a masters in international affairs and i am huge fan of the harry potter books. i found most of thier argument and analysis interesting and infomrative from adn IR point of view. some of it might ahve been a bit of a stretch but i thought the chapters on Mass media marketing and religion were particularly interesting.unfortunatly the sections that fopcused heavily on the content of the harry potter books were not always correct. there were simple mistakes that made we wonder how well the authors really read the harry potter books. for example, the incident with the troll happens in thier first year not second and is in no way connected the large amount of rule breaking that takes place throughout the second book. also harry does not lose the game where he is hit by the rouge bludger, nor is he playing against Cedric, he loses against cedric when he collapses becasue of the dementors. these mistrakes are simple and say to me that the author did not properly research thier source material. Finally the chapter on conflict was extremely interesting, however the information contained in the seventh book completely negates their argument. it is not the fault of the authros but they make some concrete statments about the role of the state in the conflict of harry potter that the events of book seven totally dispell. i do think that for someone interested in international affairs and a fan of the books or movies in any way, would enjoy this book.

[Elleonora Tambunan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A friend (who is also a fellow goodreader) introduced me to the book.. unintentionally! Anyway, this is indeed a good way to introduce International Relations as an academic subject to a wider community. I think the idea of putting forth Harry Potter books as a global phenomenon to mark the current international trend, and later on to make the plot in the successful series an analogy to international political system, is brilliant. Those who already take IR as their major academic study, however, may find the discussion in this compilation not so new.

[Marcus · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very nice way of introducing IR theory but in an interesting format. The chapters are like "Why Hogwarts is like the UN" and things like that. Plus, Dan Nexon is really good. Definitely worth taking a look at.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, my obsession with globalization drew me to this one. I mean, come on. International relations meets Harry? It's like my dream book. WARNING: If essays about the effects of globalization aren't your thing, no amount of Harry love will make you like this.

[Alyssa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The essays were interesting, but the book really needed a better editor. Spelling "Malleus Maleficarum" incorrectly in an essay concerning historical witchcraft is unforgivable, as is spelling Hermione Granger's surname incorrectly in a book concerned with analysis of Harry Potter.

[Mrs G.jones]

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