Global Politics as if People Mattered (New Millennium Books in International Studies)
The central message of this thoughtful and thought-provoking book is both timely and extremely welcome. Tétreault and Lipschutz argue that people should be placed at the centre of Global Politics. They analyze the complex interplay of structures and agency to ultimately unveil the free will of every 'social individual.' In so doing they provide us with a fresh and hopeful understanding of the contemporary meaning and relevance of 'people power' and of the future of politics 'as if people mattered.' Their message is one of the greatest importance: that every individual, despite the constraints of 'structures' and statescanindeed make a real difference to the world. A positive contribution to the 'Human Enterprise' to which the authors and many readers aspire, and an inspiration to those who wish to reinterpret the meaning of 'power' in global politics today. (Gills, Barry K.)This is a unique and brilliant work. It not only treats global politics as if people matter, it treats writing as if students matter. Global processes are framed so that students are situated directly in their path. As a result, important questions and sophisticated insights emerge not as some set of abstract notions, but in response to the problems we typically face everyday. And this is all accomplished with stunning clarity. (Robert Denemark)Tétreault and Lipschutz have developed a dialectical way of conceptualizing the postmodern identity: we act as free and responsible individuals yet, at the same time, we are also social beings. We are truly 'social individuals.' In a very insightful manner, the authors show how 'social individuals' can become committed political actors capable of changing the conditions of their lives. While not everyone will agree with the specifics of their analysis, this book will no doubt provoke a stimulating and fruitful intellectual debate about the role of democratic politics in a globalized world. (Laurent Dobuzinskis)Tétreault and Lipschutz replicate the history profession's social turn by examining international relations from the bottom up. In this wide ranging book, they show how structures and structural power emerge from socially constructed routines, and in turn how this affects life at the bottom and at the top. The book presents a refreshing alternative to the reified states that populate most IR texts. (Herman Schwartz)A desperately needed antidote to top-down treatments, this book bristles with wit and wisdom, dares to raise unconventional but fundamental questions, and delivers on its promise to explain how people--their beliefs, practices, and potential for coordinated action--matterto global politics. Its sweeping examination of social agency entertains as it instructs, offering a superb text for courses at all levels and an insightful, invigorating read for all who anxiously ask 'what is to be done.' (V. Spike Peterson)Global Politics as if People Matteredmines interdisciplinary, particularly historical and philosophical, literatures to tell stories rather than present dogmas. (Runyan, Anne Sisson)A doubly engaging text. The authors unravel the conflict between democratic politics and hierarchical governmentality–and in the process turn their reader into a 'social individual.' (Jonathan Nitzan)Finally, a textbook that reflects the broad spectrum of international studies scholarship! Tétreault and Lipschutz offer a fresh perspective on global politics that places the social individual at the center. Their book integrates insights from a broad spectrum of scholarly perspectives and presents them in a way that is both accessible and engaging. This book will undoubtedly empower students by enabling them not only to situate themselves in relation to multiple global processes, but also to see themselves as agents in the face of restricting but malleable structural constraints. I can't wait to teach this book. (Sita Ranchod-Nilsson)[This] work consolidates important critiques of traditional IR theories for absorption by a beginner undergraduate audience. This is an important task, and the book covers an admirable amount of literature. The authors' use of many examples to support their critiques is useful and fitting. Overall, the book addresses important issues and an important audience. (Journal Of Peace Research)It is unusually refreshing to see a volume on global politics that keeps real people and their agency, in addition to abstract concepts, at its centre. This book makes an admirable attempt to do just that while keeping international theory to the fore. For these reasons, it should serve as both a standalone and companion volume in courses on global politics....This seems to me a great book for stimulating discussion, critical reflection and further research. (Political Studies Review)While this book inevitably includes [political] leaders in its comprehensive treatment of the field, the book is to be commended because it also includes 'people living normal lives in what are ordinary settings by the standards of their time and place'....The artful application of such an 'ethnography of everyday life' provides an empowering (rather than forbidding) introduction to the IR field....Often-unasked questions of power and privilege in the traditional texts thus become central theses. (Anglican Theological Review)