Comparative Political Theory in Time and Place

"The studies in this volume explore a refreshing variety of unexpected sites/moments for political theory: post-Kristallknacht Jerusalem/India, post-Apartheid South Africa, Peru between Europe's World Wars, Buddhism's rich tradition, the early Abbasid Caliphate, British-occupied Manila, and the curious case of Britain's Asian and American Indians. Drawing on translingual borrowings, international law, epistolary disagreements, field interviews, and published sources, the chapters challenge orthodoxies about "dialogue" in comparative political theory and break new ground for this emergent field." (Jimmy Casas Klausen, Instituto de Relacoes Internacionais, Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) "This excellent, wide-ranging volume charts new paths in the study of political thought. Its rich essays take the reader across history and around the globe, confronting some of the discipline's most essential questions, from visions of sovereignty, law, empire, and justice, to the interplay between theory and political action. These essays successfully model, from a variety of historical and critical perspectives, what should be at the forefront of political theorizing today." (Murad Idris, Assistant Professor of Politics, University of Virginia, USA) "This volume makes an important contribution to the crucial methodological questions that frame the endeavour of comparative political theory; the essays in it are fresh, insightful, and provocative, engaging with a variety of approaches and offering a diversity of cases for comparative analysis. Kinsella and Kapust's impressive volume reminds us of the irreducible plurality of concepts, categories and cases which constitute the subfield we call comparative political theory, while exemplifying its richness by showing us the myriad interdisciplinary ways in which such theorizing can be done. A must-read for anyone interested in following the development of this important subfield." (Farah Godrej, author of Cosmopolitan Political Thought: Method Practice Discipline (2011))

This book explores comparative political theory through the study of a range of places and periods with contributions from a diverse group of scholars.This book explores comparative political theory through the study of a range of places and periods with contributions from a diverse group of scholars. The volume builds on recent work in political theory, seeking to focus scholarly attention on non-Western thought in order to contribute to both political theory and our understanding of the modern globalized world. Featuring discussions of international law and imperialism, regions such as South Asia and Latin America, religions such as Buddhism and Islam, along with imperialism and revolution, the volume also includes an overview of comparative political theory. Contributing scholars deploy a variety of methodological and interpretive approaches, ranging from archival research to fieldwork to close studies of texts in the original language. The volume elucidates the pluralism and dissensus that characterizes both cross-national and intra-national political thought.