Announcing our 2020-2021 Politics and International Affairs Catalog

Letter from the editors:

The year 2020 has been one of unprecedented political challenges, and we are pleased to offer here some new books that may help make sense of them.

Our political theory list features some timely books that address critique, racism, and identity politics. Critique and Praxis by Bernard Harcourt insists that critical thought must be harnessed to actions that will make societies more equal and just, while Amy Allen’s Critique on the Couch explains how psychoanalysis provides critique with an understanding of human subjectivity that can motivate social change. Subterranean Fanon by Gavin Arnall shows how a more radical strand of thinking embedded throughout his work is vital to today’s social movements; Barbara Carnevali’s strikingly original Social Appearances explores the essential role that public display plays in political and social power relations. And Todd McGowan’s Universality and Identity Politics demonstrates that all emancipatory politics share a vision of freedom and equality for everyone.

Just the same, our list in American politics features several new books that are eerily prescient. In Oath Keepers, the social scientist Sam Jackson illuminates the internal narratives of a radical antigovernment group. In Homeschooling the Right, political scientist Heath Brown digs up the roots of a certain brand of homeschooling (something with which many Americans are now familiar) as a conscious political tactic to erode the state and reclaim the public square. Human Relations Commissions explores the rise of race-relations committees in American cities since the Watts Riots—and how they can sometimes ease racial discord and sometimes cannot. On a brighter note, the long-awaited second volume of Hubert Harrison chronicles the later life and writings of the “father of Harlem radicalism.”

For those of you who had to put your field research on hold during the global pandemic, our global politics list has several new titles that will help you prep for your return. In Stories from the Field, Peter Krause and Ora Szekely bring together over forty political scientists to share personal advice for both new and seasoned scholars. Jesse Driscoll’s Doing Global Fieldwork takes you one step further, offering practical field research techniques for those embarking on their first-ever
research trip abroad (even if it’s from the comfort of your home office). We are also proud to publish important new books showcasing these methods, from Constantino Pischedda’s exploration of civil war complexities in Conflict Among Rebels to Joseph M. Brown’s globe-spanning study of terrorist threats, Force of Words.

The world may be on pause, but politics—and the study of it—continues apace.

Thanks for joining us and thanks for reading!

Wendy Lochner, publisher, political theory
Caelyn Cobb, editor, international relations, comparative politics, and security studies
Stephen Wesley, editor, American politics and U.S. foreign relations