New Books

Posthuman International Relations
Complexity, Ecologism and Global Politics
Erika Cudworth and Stephen Hobden
8 December 2011

In this bold intervention, Cudworth and Hobden draw on recent advances in thinking about complexity theory to call for a profound re-envisioning of the study of international relations. As a discipline, IR is wedded to the enlightenment project of overcoming the 'hazards' of nature, and thus remains constrained by its blinkered 'human-centred' approach. Furthermore, as a means of predicting...

The Politics of Indigeneity
Dialogues and Reflections on Indigenous Activism
Sita Venkateswar and Emma Hughes
8 December 2011

Provocative and original, The Politics of Indigeneity explores the concept of indigeneity across the world - from the Americas to New Zealand, Africa to Asia - and the ways in which it intersects with local, national and international social and political realities. Taking on the role of critical interlocutors, the authors engage in extended dialogue with indigenous spokespersons and activists...

The Delusions of Economics
The Misguided Certainties of a Hazardous Science
Gilbert Rist
24 November 2011

In The Delusions of Economics, Gilbert Rist presents a radical critique of neoclassical economics from a social and historical perspective. Rather than enter into existing debates between different orthodoxies, Rist instead explores the circumstances that prevailed when economics was 'invented', and the resultant biases that helped forge the construction of economics as a 'science'. In doing...

A Liberal Peace?
The Problems and Practices of Peacebuilding
Susanna Campbell, David Chandler and Meera Sabaratnam
10 November 2011

Moving beyond the binary argument between those who buy into the aims of creating liberal democratic states grounded in free markets and rule of law, and those who critique and oppose them, this timely and much-needed critical volume takes a fresh look at the liberal peace debate. In doing so, it examines the validity of this critique in contemporary peacebuilding and statebuilding practice...

Economic Policy and Human Rights
Holding Governments to Account
Radhika Balakrishnan and Diane Elson
10 November 2011

Economic Policy and Human Rights presents a powerful critique of three decades of neoliberal economic policies, assessed from the perspective of human rights norms. In doing so, it brings together two areas of thought and action that have hitherto been separate: progressive economics concerned with promoting economic justice and human development; and human rights analysis and advocacy....