We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website. By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Find out more

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.

Print Price: $115.99

Format:
Paperback, eBook
544 pp.
8" x 10"

ISBN-13:
9780190655532

Copyright Year:
2020

Imprint: OUP US


Global Politics

Mark Boyer, Natalie Hudson and Michael Butler

The world is becoming an ever smaller place-through globalization, finance and economics, technology, media, and the many global issues that transcend borders. As a result, the study of Global Politics and International Relations by students in their first year of college needs a more integrated, applied, and practical approach. Authors Mark Boyer, Natalie Hudson and Michael Butler, through their many years of teaching and studying in this field, have developed an approach to the subject that integrates historical context where necessary in the discussion of global issues and integrates the mainstream theoretical approaches within every chapter to provide students a rich and meaningful way to understand and critically analyze what is happening in the world today. This approach helps students to go beyond the abstract and challenging presentation of concepts, theories, actors and events that exists in most undergraduate level Global Politics texts, to using the findings from this field in applied and practical ways. This approach directly engages the goals most professors in the field articulate-which is to teach students how to think about their world and the things that are happening in it right now.

The text covers all of the standard topics covered in the undergraduate level IR/Global Politics course, and also provides more robust coverage of global ecology; gender and race; the different security challenges of our day that go beyond armed conflict; IPE coverage that highlights the divergent paths of the global north and south; and the growing reliance upon international law, international organizations, and global and regional governance. Within a familiar organization and emphasis of topics, the authors have developed a compelling narrative and features to captivate students who are both "worldy" and "naïve" at the same time.

Readership : This text is for undergraduate students taking International Relations courses for the first time.

Reviews

  • "The book covers the main topics that you would expect to be covered in a mainstream text. It covers the major theoretical approaches to the field. Does an excellent job of bridging the gap between theory and reality and therefore applied global affairs, and makes the complexities of international relations understandable to the beginning student."
    --Robert Weiner, University of Massachusetts, Boston

  • "What I like about this book is the simplicity and straightforward logic applied to the organization and number of chapters. I am for a 'less is more' approach to an introductory textbook. Today's digital student either does not have the time, patience, the attention span, or the desire to spend countless hours reading through text. Thus, a book like this would be an answer to a prayer, so to speak, for any instructor teaching at a small school."
    --Gigi Gokcek, Dominican University of California

  • "I very much appreciate the goals the authors lay out. In particular, challenging your assumptions and thinking critically are elements of the textbook that align very nicely with how I believe an introductory course such as this should be taught."
    --Angela Nichols, Florida Atlantic University

  • "One of the things I like about this work is that it is offered at the appropriate depth and with the appropriate level of complexity for young students. This book should easily find a place at the top of the market. It is factual without giving away a specific bias in terms of methodology. I like it and others will also."
    --Robert Denemark, University of Delaware

1. Global Politics Matter
Why Global Politics Matter
Grappling with Global Complexity
- The Study of IR
- The Role of Global Actors
- Value of IR Theory
2. Theory Is Everywhere
Realist Theory
Liberal Theory
World Systems Theory
Constructivism
Feminist Theory
3. Interpreting Power: A Levels of Analysis Approach
Defining Power in Global Politics
The Levels-of-Analysis Approach
Individual-Level of Analysis
State-Level of Analysis
System-Level of Analysis
4. The Nation-State Past and Present
Nations, Nationalism and the Nation-State Defined
The Historical Evolution of Nations and Nationalism
Nationalism Reconsidered
The Sovereign State
5. Re-Imagining Globalization - Forces That Divide and Forces That Unite
Causes and Conceptions of Globalization
Analyzing the Impact of Globalization
Transnationalism: Actors and Movements
6. International Organizations: Global and Regional Governance
Why States Organize As Collectives
Trends in IGO Formation and Function
A Closer Look at the UN System
Regional IGOs
7. War and Terrorism
War as a Concept
Armed Conflict: Causes and Objectives
Global Trends in Armed Conflict
The Changing Context of War
Asymmetrical Warfare: Terrorism
8. Pursuing Security
The Traditional Approach
Security Re-Envisioned
Seeking Security, Illustrations
The New Security Environment
Threat Assessment: Weapons of Mass Destruction
9. International Law and Transitional Justice
Fundamentals and History of International Law
International Law in Theory and Practice
Law and Justice in a Multicultural World
Justice after War and Mass Atrocity
10. Global Political Economy: Protecting Wealth in the Global North
Theories of Global Political Economy
The World Economy: Globalization and Interdependence
The Dominant Economic Institutions
Regional and Bilateral Economic Cooperation
11. Global Political Economy: A Search for Equity in a Dependent System
The Diverse Circumstances of the World Economy
Dependency, Institutions and North-South Economic Relations
Applied Economic Policy
IR Thoery and the Future of Economic Development
12. Human Rights: A Tool for Preserving and Enhancing Human Dignity
The Emergence of Human Rights Language, Laws and Norms
Human Rights Enforcement
Human Rights Issues and Advocacy
13. Global Political Ecology
An Ecological State of the World
Global Carrying Capacity
Global Climate Change

There are no Instructor/Student Resources available at this time.

Mark Boyer is Professor of Geography at University of Connecticut. Mark is currently a Board of Trustees Professor and a Scholar-in-Residence at UConn's Center for Environmental Science and Engineering (CESE) at the University of Connecticut.

Natalie Hudson is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Dayton, where she also serves as the Director of the Human Rights Studies Program. She specializes in gender and international relations, the politics of human rights, human security, and international law and organization.

Michael Butler is Associate Professor of Political Science at Clark University. His research and teaching interests converge in the areas of conflict and cooperation, foreign policy, and global governance. He specializes in the study of foreign policy, armed conflict and military intervention, and conflict management and resolution.

Making Sense in the Social Sciences - Margot Northey, Lorne Tepperman and Patrizia Albanese
Current Debates in International Relations - Edited by Eric B. Shiraev and Vladislav M. Zubok

Special Features

  • Presents global events from the perspectives of different groups of people around the world, challenging students to objectively understand and apply what they're learning in class.
  • Encourages students to use International Relations theory as a tool to understand key historical moments and connect them to modern-day events.
  • Features encourage students to view debates from other peoples' points of view, understand the role that every citizen of the world plays in global politics, and analyze case studies to form their own opinions and challenge conventional thinking
  • Uses a concise yet dense format that covers all of the standard topics taught in undergraduate level IR/Global Politics courses, and also provides more robust coverage of global ecology; gender and race; the different security challenges of our day that go beyond armed conflict; IPE coverage that highlights the divergent paths of the global north and south; and the growing reliance upon international law, international organizations, and global and regional governance.