Note: Includes index. Dewey: 22 Subject: International relations Textbooks. Harlow, England: Pearson Longman, APA: Steans, J. An introduction to international relations theory : perspectives and themes.
Harlow, England: Pearson Longman. Set language NL EN. I realized that my students brought their abilities to read and critique popular films both visually and narratively to the classroom. And I decided that my challenge as a teacher would be to mobilize these knowledges and skills into a critical dialogue with the more mundane exposition of IR theories that are the backbone of any IR Theory course.
I also concluded that the best way to do this was to give students one key idea from each IR theory that they could easily grasp and therefore hopefully hold onto e. I did not mean to suggest that this was the only relevant idea from each of these theories, but that it was a starting place from which students could begin to learn about IR theories. This would give them a point of access into upper-level IR Theory classes which would necessarily complicate these key ideas.
As I identified these ideas, I began to think of them as IR myths — not as statements that are true or false, but as statements that appear to be true so much so that IR theorists and practitioners engage with them as if they are facts. What interested me — and what I wanted my students to understand — is that there was nothing natural about these IR myths. To help my students understand precisely how this works, I decided pair each of these IR myths with a popular film that could do two things — illustrate what the IR myth said and then serve as a vehicle through which to critique how the IR myth functioned e.
Because I was teaching US students, I had to find them a textbook to support their classroom work. Yes, Robert W. I needed a textbook that was about IR Theory and that I could use to help develop my students analytical and critical skills.
Even when I looked at the more traditional IR textbooks at the time — those that strove to comprehensively survey the discipline theoretically and thematically like Charles W. Kegley, Jr. Like my course, the textbook explores IR myths through popular films as a way to illustrate and critique IR theory and the discipline of IR.
As the reviewers here rightly point out, this textbook is far from perfect. It is partial in that it critiques only those IR myths that have come to be adopted by many in the so-called mainstream as true, like Neorealism and Neoidealism, while neglecting to critique those IR myths that the mainstream has yet to accept or accept in the form that their advocates promote , like poststructuralism or feminism.
These are fair criticisms, but for me they are tempered by another historical context that defined my approach to writing the first edition of this textbook. And while other traditions like poststructuralism and feminism challenged Neorealism, these traditions were usually either shunned or ridiculed by the mainstream, even if selected aspects of them were disciplined and incorporated into mainstream debates.
What this means is that at the time I was first writing this textbook, there were ample critiques available of poststructuralism and feminism, and there was no sustained undergraduate textbook that critiqued IR Theory from a poststructuralist and feminist point of view. Later editions of the textbook carry this historical legacy within them, without ever suggesting that poststructuralism and feminism do not rely upon their own myths.
So, yes, I made a political choice in writing the textbook in this way. To me, though, the most political choice I made in writing this textbook was to argue — and indeed to demonstrate how — popular films are a powerful form and forum through which IR myths are circulated and made palatable to the general public.
This move is important because it has the potential to effect three changes in relation to IR. Second, it might change what counts as good pedagogical practice in the classroom, by foregrounding what is usually excluded from IR Theory as the main event. And third and as a result , it might change the relationships of powers between undergraduate students of IR and their professors because it demands that professors recognize that their students are probably more highly knowledgeable about and skilled in reading popular expressions of IR Theory in popular films than they are.
What this means is that this textbook was written to be dialogical rather than monological, as it requires IR Theory and the IR professors teaching it and popular culture and the IR Theory students who grasp it and work with it so well critically to always be in a conversation about what IR theories mean and do, what popular cultural expressions like popular films mean and do, what the discipline of IR means and does, especially when reconsidered through popular films, and even what this textbook means and does.
Kegley, Charles W. Wittkopf World Politics: Trends and Transformations, 10 th edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing. London: Routledge. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.
Email: m. References Robert W. Gregg International Relations on Film. Boulder, CO: Lynne Reiner. Joshua S. Goldstein International Relations. London: Longman. Share this: Twitter Facebook. Like this: Like Loading Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:. Email required Address never made public. The textbook does not provide and index or glossary, The textbook does not provide and index or glossary, but since it is available electronically looking up terms and words of interest is of no difficulty.
The textbook is up-to-date. The events, concepts and examples used in it are durable enough that it will not need to be regularly updated. Certainly not on an annual basis.
The emphasis on concepts rather than smaller current event make it last for several years before needing re-edition.
The textbook reads easily. It flows from chapter to chapter and theme to theme rather seamlessly. It would not be a difficult read for an undergraduate level course. As it stands the textbook would require some effort to divide into readable chunks for assignments.
I would organize is differently in terms of the chapters. However, when combining various chapters from parts 1 and 2, the reading assignments are coherent. For example, the chapters 8 and 10 cover topics that are usually taught in sequence.
Thus, most likely they should be assigned as a combined reading block. Organization is the one area where I would recommend re-work.
As it stands the textbook is rather fragmented. Many chapters could be combined for a more streamlined presentation. Bringing down the number of chapters would also help in fitting the text into a standard 15 week semester long classes at least in North America. The textbook could benefit from some graphic representations. Since the undergraduate audience is the primary target, pictures, graphics and other visual representations would significantly increase the textbooks appeal.
It would also enhance its teaching ability. The textbook presents a very euro western centric view of the international relations.
This is more telling of the state of the IR curriculum, rather than the critique of the text per se. This is a decent textbook. It accomplishes most IR requirements in an open format. As such it is a valuable resources in instances when textbook costs are a prohibitive barrier. The book is presented as a beginner's guide to International Relations and in this way is comprehensive in its presentation of basic issues relevant to the subject.
But the book refuses to use "buzzwords" like "globalization" because the authors Comprehensiveness rating: 2 see less. But the book refuses to use "buzzwords" like "globalization" because the authors do not want to get "bogged down in big debates" around complex terms. This seems like an inappropriate stance, as many beginners may be studying IR precisely to better understand such words.
The book does not have an index. It has a bibliography, but throughout the text, is uses very few references, even when it seems obvious that the reader would like to know more. The book appears accurate, but with so few citations, it's quite hard to know the perspectives of the authors of each chapter. It is not unbiased; the book is extremely Eurocentric. Countries in the global south are presented as object of diplomacy, or as the sites of problems like famine, rather than presented as active participants in globalization I guess if they'd be willing the use the term globalization, they could have avoided this problem.
The book seems up to date, including citations from Because the text is so theory heavy and includes almost no examples, this might prevent it from seeming out of date quickly. At the same time, the second half "global issues" that focuses on contemporary problems, would have to be updated quite regularly i.
But the book should do this, because students need to be presented with examples of how IR works and how we can respond to these global issues. The book is written clearly, if dispassionately. There is little jargon, as was the author's intention, but this makes the writing seem even too simplistic for college students. Why should we not be asking them to understand challenging terms? The book's introduction also gives recommendations for how to read, which, if idealistic, could be useful to college freshmen who are not used to reading long texts.
Additionally, the authors state clearly that the chapters should not be "cherry picked" and must be read one after another--I did not find this to be the case and had no issues jumping around.
The book is very consistent. Each chapter looks quite the same, although several of the "global issues" chapters are quite short. Again, the book is meant to be read completely linearly, so this consistency was a priority for the authors. The book presents itself as NOT predisposed to modularity.
As a reader in the field, it seemed to me that this was a little strict and that a good professor could easily reorganize the book in order to, for example, assign an "issues" chapter along with a "basics" chapter in order to illustrate some points. But the authors do not encourage any sort of creativity so such a task would require significant extra work on the instructor's part.
The book is clearly organized based on the priorities of the authors: this means that it is theory heavy up front, features one completely inadequate chapter about "culture," and then presents a series of "issues" to bring IR into the real world. The book fits clearly into the authors' pedagogy. There are no images or any other illustrations. This is another part of the authors' pedagogy in which they find such things distracting. There are no interface errors, but the book is entirely page after page of similar-looking text.
This is ridiculously boring and very far out of touch from how students actually learn. The book is very Eurocentric and is focused on the diplomatic world through the eyes of Europe and North America. This is an archaic way of teaching and learning about the world.
There is one chapter about "culture and religion" which, first of all, each deserve there own attention which tells us nothing about how cultural diversity impacts international relations.
The "global issues" section is extremely weak. For instance, the chapter on the environment focuses almost exclusively on international agreements, but not on differential expectations for countries, debates around these policies, and the real-life impacts of climate change and environmental policy. This book is not culturally sensitive because there are no people in it.
It's as if the authors see IR as outside of the realm of human relevance. Since there are no images or suggestions for discussion or further reading, a faculty member using this book would have to do a huge amount of work to make the text engaging for students.
The instructor would have to find creative ways to do any practical exercises, and this seems like way too much work when much better texts exist. This book is not worth using just because it is open access. Why on earth would you want to teach IR without thinking about any examples and without getting students thinking about what policies have what impact on the people living around the world? The book at least touches on all of the subjects that I routinely cover in my introductory course on international relations, but the coverage of the subjects vary greatly.
I thought the chapters on the environment and food security were I thought the chapters on the environment and food security were particularly well-developed, but other chapters like the one on connectivity, communications, and technology would have been made stronger through more details or applied examples.
The historical context given to today's political world is also a bit shaky. Some historical developments are more thoroughly explained than others, and students using this book might find it confusing that some background material is spread across chapters. Also noteworthy, the book contains no finding aids index, glossary which would make it cumbersome to students trying to use this in an introductory course.
It was not clear to me whether or how the publishers plan to update this text. This is particularly key for an international relations textbook with such a heavy emphasis on current world affairs. Unfortunately, in spite of the fact that the book is less than a year old, some sections are already debatably in need of updating particularly Ch.
While the basic information conveyed in each chapter will remain relevant, I would want to know the editor's intentions for updating the text before implementing it in a course. The text is written in a very accessible way, and the various authors do a good job of explaining terms fully in the text. The chapter structure is well-defined and appropriate for an introductory course. Potential users may want to be aware that the text is designed to flow in a certain order, so in most cases rearranging chapters out-of-order would not be advised.
The book is mostly well structured. I did have some issue with some concepts or historical developments being explained out-of-order or across multiple chapters, for example the history and development of the UN--which is spread across chapters 4, 5, and and the Cold War, which is discussed piecemeal in multiple chapters. My biggest issue with the interface is that there is none.
The book contains no links, pictures, charts, graphs, or visuals at all--even where the addition of these materials could help students using the text. I appreciate the editor's note indicating that these items were sacrificed in order to produce a free text, but I feel there were some extremely low- or no-cost ways of enhancing the text that would have been beneficial.
Even having authors use bold font for key terms would facilitate student learning. Authors might also have been encouraged to recommend further reading or links to online resources related to each chapter. Combined with the lack of finding aids, I think the lack of interface would frustrate some students. The text is largely inclusive, and the individual authors are representative of the global nature of the discipline.
Overall, my impression of this book was that it could not be a standalone text for an introductory, college-level IR course.
The professor using this text would almost certainly need to supplement it with additional readings, and would probably also need to put a good deal of thought into designing exercises, lectures, tests, and study guides based on this material. Most importantly, I personally would not want to adopt this textbook without understanding the plan for updating it, as some of this information will likely seem outdated or obsolete in the next years.
As a beginner's guide, it has been structured to condense the most important information into the smallest space and present that information in the most accessible way. The chapters offer a broad sweep of the basic components of International Relations and the key contemporary issues that concern the discipline. The narrative arc forms a complete circle, taking readers from no knowledge to competency. The journey starts by examining how the international system was formed and ends by reflecting that International Relations is always adapting to events and is therefore a never-ending journey of discovery.
Unlike typical textbooks, there are no boxes, charts, pictures or exercises. The philosophy underpinning this book is that these things can be a distraction. This book, like others in the E-IR Foundations series, is designed to capture attention with an engaging narrative. The chapters are short, with simple paragraphs and clear sentences placing the reader inside crucial issues and debates so they can understand how things work, and where they fit in the world around them. Content Accuracy rating: 5 Yes, they provide accurate information and I could not find misinformation.
Clarity rating: 5 Mostly yes, materials are clearly written. Modularity rating: 5 It's great to have two main parts i. Interface rating: 5 I don't think it has an interface issue. Grammatical Errors rating: 5 No specific error I've found.
Cultural Relevance rating: 5 I don't think it has culturally offensive parts. Comments I think it's pretty much well written and organized. Content Accuracy rating: 5 The book is accurate and error-free. Clarity rating: 5 I appreciate the readability of the book. Consistency rating: 4 Overall, the book's flow is consistent.
Modularity rating: 5 Each chapter can stand alone. It will be easy to assign single chapters. Interface rating: 5 No interface issues. Grammatical Errors rating: 5 No grammatical errors that I noticed. Cultural Relevance rating: 5 As mentioned above, I appreciate that the book acknowledges the ways that IR as a discipline traditionally takes a Western approach. Comments I think this book will work well alongside other materials. Content Accuracy rating: 5 In general, the book presents accurate accounts of the key themes in IR, from a range of perspectives.
Clarity rating: 5 The text is generally written in a conversational tone, doing a good job of explaining the substantive content of each chapter in a simple manner. Consistency rating: 4 Insofar as the chapters construct the fundamental building blocks of IR, the book is internally consistent. Modularity rating: 5 While the text provides a good picture of the field overall, each chapter covers a distinct topic or issue and stands on its own.
Grammatical Errors rating: 5 There are no major presentation errors in the book. Cultural Relevance rating: 4 The book makes an effort to include a diversity of perspectives in IR, reflecting the theoretical and empirical diversity that the field is striving toward. Comments The book is currently the sole open-access textbook in the field of IR, and promises to expose significant numbers of prospective students of IR to an informed, academic introduction to and assessment of the field.
Content Accuracy rating: 5 I did not identify any factual inaccuracies, although I would have liked more frequent citations. Clarity rating: 3 The authors are clear in their presentation but they have watered down their approach so much that the text lacks conceptual clarity. Consistency rating: 4 In general, the text is consistent in terms of terminology and framework, although inevitably multiple authors get repetitive.
Modularity rating: 4 The text is quite self-referential at first. Cultural Relevance rating: 5 There was nothing at all offensive about this book, but people should be aware that it is a European-worldview IR text.
Comments Overall, this is a basic introductory text that to my mind holds promise. Content Accuracy rating: 5 For the most part, the book is accurate and error free.
Clarity rating: 5 The book is written clearly and at a level that undergraduate college students should have no problems There is no assumption that the reader has been exposed to the field of IR. Consistency rating: 5 The text has a strong internal consistency. Modularity rating: 4 The division of the text into smaller readings sections is fairly good.
Interface rating: 4 In this case, the book can benefit from an interface with images, charts and other displays that would further the readers understanding of the key concepts, structures, and institutions and there role in IR. Grammatical Errors rating: 5 The text did not appear to have major grammatical errors. Cultural Relevance rating: 5 Overall, the book is not culturally insensitive.
Comments Obviously, I am excited about using this book to teach my class in International Relations. Content Accuracy rating: 4 See review pasted into the text window below.
Clarity rating: 5 See review pasted into the text window below. Consistency rating: 4 See review pasted into the text window below. Modularity rating: 5 See review pasted into the text window below. Interface rating: 4 See review pasted into the text window below. Grammatical Errors rating: 5 See review pasted into the text window below. Cultural Relevance rating: 5 See review pasted into the text window below.
Content Accuracy rating: 5 I found no errors related to accuracy in the book. It was very well researched and proofed. Clarity rating: 5 Textbooks are never the most gripping reading, but even with advanced knowledge of the material in the book I found it fairly compelling, particularly because of the focus in the second half of the book on global issues. The second half takes the book from "good" to "fantastic" Consistency rating: 5 The book is well put together and I found no issues in regards to consistency in terminology or framework.
Modularity rating: 4 Overall, each chapter is well written, and each chapter and section has a number of natural breaks. Interface rating: 5 There were no navigation problems the table of contents was accurate. Grammatical Errors rating: 5 I found no grammatical errors. Cultural Relevance rating: 5 The book was written by a large number of individuals with different backgrounds and identities, and it shows: I found no examples that were culturally insensitive or offensive, and found the inclusiveness of the viewpoints brought by the variety of authors to be refreshing.
Comments I look forward to adopting this book in the Spring- while there are some issues with the ability to design a course around it ie the text itself isn't flexible to starting from a different point than the text does , I believe it is worth the effort. Content Accuracy rating: 5 I didn't find any factual errors.
Clarity rating: 4 The text is very accessible to beginners, although a glossary would really help. Consistency rating: 3 The frameworks used by the contributors clearly vary a lot. Modularity rating: 5 Helpful subheadings throughout. Grammatical Errors rating: 5 Fine. Cultural Relevance rating: 4 Many perspectives are included when issues are being examined. Comments I can see myself including some chapters as supplemental reading material to my intro to IR course.
Content Accuracy rating: 5 I did not see any problems with errors or bias. Clarity rating: 4 Obviously, with any edited volume, the tone of the book will change from chapter to chapter based on each author's writing style. Consistency rating: 5 Again, it is difficult with an edited volume to make sure everyone is on the same page in terms of terminology, but the editor did a great job of ensuring that the terms and ideas were used consistently across the chapters.
Modularity rating: 5 Each chapter was well laid out with subheadings. Interface rating: 5 The interface was fine. Grammatical Errors rating: 5 I saw no grammatical errors. Cultural Relevance rating: 5 I saw no problems with cultural insensitivity or exclusion of any group. Comments I wish the first four chapters of the basics section were covered much better. Content Accuracy rating: 4 I did not see any factual errors.
Clarity rating: 5 I think it is very student friendly. Consistency rating: 5 I found it consistent. Modularity rating: 5 This is a strong point.
Interface rating: 3 It would be nice if clicking on a chapter title or page number in the table of contents took you to the chapter. Cultural Relevance rating: 4 The book tries admirably to include many perspectives and address issues of global relevance. Comments I will certainly include some of these chapters as supplements to my intro to IR course.
Content Accuracy rating: 4 This is of course always depends on one's perspective but from what I could tell, it seems accurate. Clarity rating: 4 Clearly written. Consistency rating: 3 There is some referring back to other chapters and topics but there could be more given that it is a textbook.
Modularity rating: 5 Yes, it is. Interface rating: 5 No issues that I could detect. Cultural Relevance rating: 3 It has a somewhat Eurocentric bend as there is little on colonialism or non-western examples or approaches. Comments No index but you can search as it is available electronically. A glossary might be helpful. Content Accuracy rating: 4 Book provides often times an objective view of global politics, but on issues there have been instances where some authors refer to their personal experiences as a way to open up debates and introduce paradoxes which in some ways impact the overall bias on the issues introduced.
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