1 - Introduction

Summary

This introductory chapter articulates the unifying vision for the volume: that comparative political theory is a transformative and intergenerational practice for the discipline as a whole, in our teaching as well as our research. It is not a niche subfield of political theory, of interest only to specialized experts in particular thought traditions around the world, but is salient to all political theorists, regardless of their methodological or theoretical commitments, who seek modes of political inquiry and analysis that are salient for the twenty-first-century challenges of a now-globalized modernity. The chapter canvasses the structural obstacles to the transformation of the discipline, explores its tendencies to reproduce itself in the image of “the Western canon,” and situates the task of comparative political theory within the larger frame of the tasks of political theory simpliciter. It also addresses the fact that the practice of deparochializing political theory may vary depending on a particular scholar’s location in the world and position in the global academy. Finally, it provides an overview of the contributors’ past contributions to “deparochializing political theory” and a summary of their chapters’ arguments.