New Books Network
Political Science
Political Science January 17, 2022

The Symbolic State

Minority Recognition, Majority Backlash, and Secession in Multinational Countries

Karlo Basta

Hosted by Christian Nielsen
In his new book, The Symbolic State: Minority Recognition, Majority Backlash, and Secession in Multinational Countries (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2021), Karlo Basta argues that the nation-state is a double sleight …

Political Science

Subscribe:

Interviews with political scientists about their new books.

Political Science January 13, 2022

The Palgrave Handbook of Political Research Pedagogy

Eric D. Loepp, Daniel J. Mallinson, and Julia Marin Hellwege

Hosted by Lilly Goren
Political Scientists Daniel Mallinson (Pennsylvania State University-Harrisburg), Julia Marin Hellwege (University of South Dakota), and Eric Loepp (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater) have assembled more than thirty chapters that examine how to …
Asian Review of Books January 13, 2022

Kashmir at the Crossroads

Inside a 21st-Century Conflict

Sumantra Bose

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
“Kashmir” carries the burden of being known as one of the world’s biggest flashpoints. If a novel, TV show, or video game wants an easy international crisis, there’s a good …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel January 11, 2022

State and Religion in Israel

A Philosophical-Legal Inquiry

Gideon Sapir and Daniel Statman

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Mahatma Gandhi said, “Those who believe religion and politics aren't connected don't understand either.” The relationship between religion and state presents complex challenges to liberal democracies around the world. In …
Nordic Asia Podcast January 10, 2022

Conflicted Citizenship in Vietnam

Between Grassroots Mobilization and State Repression

Mirjam Le and Franziska Nicolaisen

Hosted by Nordic Asia Podcast
Does ‘citizenship’ exist in a socialist or communist context? If it does, what would this mean in the case of Vietnam? To what extent do the Vietnamese state and Vietnamese …
Asian Review of Books January 6, 2022

Middle Class Shanghai

Reshaping U.S.-China Engagement

Cheng Li

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
In mid-November, Washington and Beijing mutually agreed to start granting journalist visas again, putting an end to months of reciprocal visa rejections and denials. A perhaps minor, yet still important …
Political Science January 6, 2022

Uncivil Mirth

Ridicule in Enlightenment Britain

Ross Carroll

Hosted by Lilly Goren
Political Theorist Ross Carroll takes the reader through Enlightenment conversations about the use of ridicule and laughter in politics and political engagement in his new book, Uncivil Mirth: Ridicule in …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast January 6, 2022

The January 6th Capitol Insurrection One Year On

A Discussion of the Far Right with Cynthia Miller-Idriss

Cynthia Miller-Idriss

Hosted by Mark Klobas
Hate crimes. Misinformation and conspiracy theories. Foiled white-supremacist plots. The signs of growing far-right extremism are all around us, and communities across America and around the globe are struggling to …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel January 5, 2022

Gaza Conflict 2021

Jonathan Schanzer

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Today I talked to Jonathan Schanzer about his new book Gaza Conflict 2021 (Foundation for Defense of Democracies, 2021). The May 2021 conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas generated …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast January 3, 2022

Western Europe’s Democratic Age

1945-1968

Martin Conway

Hosted by Mark Klobas
What happened in the years following World War II to create a democratic revolution in the western half of Europe? In Western Europe’s Democratic Age: 1945-1968 (Princeton UP, 2021), Martin …
Southeast Asian Studies January 3, 2022

Power and Knowledge in Southeast Asia

State and Scholars in Indonesia and the Philippines

Rommel Argamosa Curaming

Hosted by Duncan McCargo
Why did leading historians in both Indonesia and the Philippines become involved in projects to write national histories during the 1970s? How far were these projects essentially political undertakings to …
Russian and Eurasian Studies December 30, 2021

Putin's Attempt to Hide the Crimes of Stalinism

A Talk with Benjamin Nathans about the Suppression of "Memorial"

Benjamin Nathans

Hosted by Marshall Poe
For the past 30 years, a group of Russian scholars have dedicated themselves to uncovering the crimes of Stalinism. Their organization, Memorial, has in that time made great strides in …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel December 29, 2021

American Schism

How the Two Enlightenments Hold the Secret to Healing our Nation

Seth David Radwell

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Why are Americans so angry? American Schism: How the Two Enlightenments Hold the Secret to Healing our Nation (Greenleaf, 2021) explores history to find the answer to a divided America …
African Studies December 29, 2021

Making the World Global

U.S. Universities and the Production of the Global Imaginary

Isaac A. Kamola

Hosted by Sara Katz
Following World War II the American government and philanthropic foundations fundamentally remade American universities into sites for producing knowledge about the world as a collection of distinct nation-states. As neoliberal …
Genocide Studies December 24, 2021

The Crime of Aggression

The Quest for Justice in an Age of Drones, Cyberattacks, Insurgents, and Autocrats

Noah Weisbord

Hosted by Jeff Bachman
On July 17, 2018, starting an unjust war became a prosecutable international crime alongside genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Instead of collective state responsibility, our leaders are now …
Political Science December 23, 2021

Criminalizing Atrocity

The Global Spread of Criminal Laws Against International Crimes

Mark S. Berlin

Hosted by Lilly Goren
Political Scientist Mark Berlin’s new book, Criminalizing Atrocity: The Global Spread of Criminal Laws Against International Crimes (Oxford UP, 2020), examines the process through which laws against international crimes are established …
Genocide Studies December 22, 2021

Everyday Peace

How So-Called Ordinary People Can Disrupt Violent Conflict

Roger Mac Ginty

Hosted by Christopher Davey
Roger Mac Ginty's book Everyday Peace: How So-Called Ordinary People Can Disrupt Violent Conflict (Oxford UP, 2021) focuses on how individuals and communities navigate through, and out of, conflict. Through theory …
Politics & Polemics December 22, 2021

Spain and Its Achilles' Heels

The Strong Foundations of a Country's Weaknesses

Koldo Casla

Hosted by Kirk Meighoo
In Spain and Its Achilles' Heels: The Strong Foundations of a Country's Weaknesses (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2021), Koldo Casla asks: Why was Franco exhumed from the Valley of the Fallen in late …
Chinese Studies December 21, 2021

Disaggregating China, Inc.

State Strategies in the Liberal Economic Order

Yeling Tan

Hosted by Keith Krueger
Once you understand that markets require public institutions of governance and regulation in order to function well, and further, you accept that nations may have different preferences over the shape …
Political Science December 20, 2021

Beyond Slavery's Shadow

Free People of Color in the South

Warren E. Milteer, Jr.

Hosted by Susan Liebell
We often focus on enslaved people of color but Dr. Warren E. Milteer Jr.’s Beyond Slavery's Shadow: Free People of Color in the South (UNC Press, 2021) directs our attention …