The Oxford Handbook of International Political Theory

Abstract

This Handbook—one of a new series—sets out to describe the current state of the art in International Political Theory, and to advance this discourse into new areas. A key feature of the Handbook is the way in which its contributors engage with “real politics”: although the importance of developing so-called ideal theory is acknowledged in several chapters, the main emphasis of the book is on an engagement with empirical data and real-world politics. Conventional distinctions such as that between “critical theory” and “problem-solving theory” are challenged—the underlying contention is that, ultimately, all theory is problem-solving, and an emphasis on norms and normative theory cannot be understood as separate from so-called positive International Relations Theory. The contributors have approached the themes of the Handbook from different angles in relation to a wide range of different topics in ways that showcase the diversity of perspectives and traditions that make up the field of International Political Theory. The Handbook consists of fifty chapters organized into nine sections, covering History, Traditions and Perspectives, International Justice, Violence and Conflict, Humanitarianism and Human Rights, Democracy, Accountability and Global Governance, Ethics and International Public Policy, New Directions in International Political Theory, and, finally, a section which puts in question the relationship between International Political Theory and Real Politics.