Rethinking Political Thinkers
Edited by Manjeet Ramgotra and Simon Choat
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.
Readership : Politics and international relations students taking a module in political theory or political thinkers.
Reviews
- '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
I. Boundaries of the Political
1. Simon Choat and Manjeet Ramgotra: Introduction
2. Patrizia Longo: Plato, Socrates and Sojourner Truth
3. Manjeet Ramgotra: Aristotle and bell hooks
4. Deepshikha Shahi: Kautilya
II. Social Contract Theory and its Critics
5.
Signy Gutnick-Allen: Thomas Hobbes
6. Caroline Williams: Baruch de Spinoza
7. Hagar Kotef: John Locke
8. Allauren Forbes: Mary Astell
9. Peter Hallward: Jean-Jacques Rousseau
10. Terrell Carver: Carole Pateman and Charles Mills
III. Liberal Modernity and Colonial
Domination
11. Manjeet Ramgotra: Charles-Louis de Secondat Montesquieu
12. Inder S. Marwah: John Stuart Mill
13. Simon Choat: Karl Marx
14. Willow Verkerk: Friedrich Nietzsche
15. Ayesha Omar: Sayyid Qutb
16. Edward W. Said, Rahul Rao
IV. Freedom and
Revolution
17. Alan Coffee: Catharine Macaulay and Edmund Burke
18. Robbie Shilliam: C. L. R. James
19. Kei Hiruta: Hannah Arendt
20. Viren Murthy: Zhang Taiyan
V. Inclusion and Equality
21. Ashley Dodsworth: Mary Wollstonecraft
22. Neus Torbisco-Casals: Iris
Marion Young
23. Varun Uberoi: Bhikhu Parekh
24. Nikita Dhawan: Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
VI. Violence, Power, and Resistance
25. Yves Winter: Niccolo Machiavelli
26. Ruth Kinna: Emma Goldman
27. James Casas Klausen: Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi
28. Keally McBride:
Frantz Fanon
VII. The Liberal Self and Black Consciousness
29. Stella Sandford: Immanuel Kant
30. Kiara Gilbert and Karen Salt: Frederick Douglass
31. Elvira Basevich: W. E. B. Dubois
32. Maeve McKeown: John Rawls
VIII. Sex and Sexuality
33. Paul Patton:
Michel Foucault
34. Victoria Margree: Shulamith Firestone
35. Manjeet Ramgotra: Angela Davis
36. Clare Woodford: Judith Butler
IX. The Environment, Human, and Non-Human
37. Eva-Maria Nag: Dipesh Chakrabarty
38. Claire Colebrook: Donna Haraway
39. Esme G. Murdock:
Indigenous ecologies
There are no Instructor/Student Resources available at this time.
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.
Political Thinkers - Edited by David Boucher and Paul Kelly
Issues in Political Theory - Catriona McKinnon, Patrick Tomlin and Robert Jubb
An Introduction to Political Philosophy - Jonathan Wolff
Special Features
- Provides students with coverage of a range of perspectives, including previously marginalised and neglected thinkers alongside the predominantly white male thinkers of the traditional canon
- Interprets thinkers within the contexts of patriarchy, white supremacy, and imperialism, giving
special attention to the relations and structures of race, gender, and class which different theories have reflected, defended, or challenged
- Introduces students to a wide range of political thinkers, placing them in their contexts, exploring tensions and exclusions in their work, and assessing
different interpretations
- Addresses key topics, theories, and concepts within political thought, including social contract theory, colonial domination, black consciousness, gender, and environmental thought
