Making Political Geography

Dating from its inception in the late nineteenth century, political geography as a field has been heavily influenced by global events of the time. Thus, rather than trying to impose a single “fashionable” theory, leading geographers John Agnew and Luca Muscarà consider the underlying role of changing geopolitical context as their framework for understanding the evolution of the discipline. The authors trace the development of key thinkers and theories during three distinct periods—1875–1945, the Cold War, and the post–Cold War—emphasizing the ongoing struggle between theoretical “monism” and “pluralism,” or one path to knowledge versus many. The world has undergone dramatic shifts since the book’s first publication in 2002, and this thoroughly revised and updated second edition focuses especially on reinterpretations of the post–Cold War period. Agnew and Muscarà explore the renewed questioning of international borders, the emergence of the Middle East and displacement of Europe as the center of global geopolitics, the rise of China and other new powers, the reappearance of environmental issues, and the development of critical geopolitics. With its deeply knowledgeable and balanced history and overview of the field, this concise work will be a valuable and flexible text for all courses in political geography.

Politics & Social Sciences

Muscarà, Luca

Agnew UCLA, John

Social Sciences

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Now thoroughly revised and updated, this concise text offers a deeply knowledgeable and balanced history and overview of political geography since its inception in the late nineteenth century. Rather than trying to impose a single "fashionable" theory, leading geographers John Agnew and Luca Muscarà consider the underlying role of changing geopolitical context for understanding the evolution of the discipline. The authors focus especially on reinterpretations of the post-Cold War period, exploring the renewed questioning of international borders, the emergence of the Middle East and displacement of Europe as the center of global geopolitics, the rise of China and other new powers, the reappearance of environmental issues, and the development of critical geopolitics. Offering more flexibility than a traditional core text, this book will be a valuable resource for all courses in political geography.

History

Globalization and Sovereignty: Beyond the Territorial Trap

This provocative and important text offers a new way of thinking about sovereignty, both past and present. Distinguished geographer John Agnew boldly challenges the widely popular story that state sovereignty is in worldwide eclipse in the face of the overwhelming processes of globalization. He argues that this perception relies on ideas about sovereignty and globalization that are both overstated and misleading. Agnew contends that sovereignty-state control and authority over space is not necessarily neatly contained in state-by-state territories, nor has it ever been so. Yet the dominant image of globalization is the replacement of a territorialized world by one of networks and flows that know no borders other than those that define the Earth itself. In challenging this image, Agnew first traces the ways in which it has become commonplace. He then develops a new way of thinking about the geography of effective sovereignty and the various geographical forms in which sovereignty actually operates in the world, offering an exciting intellectual framework that breaks with the either/or thinking of state sovereignty versus globalization.

Reference

This book offers a new way of thinking about sovereignty, both past and present. John Agnew challenges the widely accepted story that state sovereignty is in worldwide eclipse in the face of the overwhelming processes of globalization, offering a convincing framework that breaks with the either/or thinking of state sovereignty versus globalization.

Brexit. Trump. LePen. The Five Star Movement. The recent success of populist movements and politicians is extraordinary, though the rise of populism is understandable in light of increasing political polarization, disappointing politicians, and exhausting election campaigns. With the future trajectory of democracy uncertain, two important questions remain unanswered. How did we get here? And why did we get here? Exploring how and why populism succeeded, John Agnew and Michael Shin consider the reasons for the Brexit vote, who voted—and who did not vote —for Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen, and the rise of an Italian populist government, Through comparative geographical analyses, the authors literally and figuratively map the rise of populism across the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and Italy. Geography tells us who the people are who have supported populism and the limits and possibilities of its claim to represent all of “the people,” wherever they are. Organized around recurring central themes of turnout, leadership, and media, and using compelling maps, their book encourages thought and discussion on an increasingly important topic—and on the future of democracy itself. For additional materials and a corrected version of Figure 2.1, visit https://mappingpopulism.com/.

Mapping Populism: Taking Politics to the People

Shin, Michael

Politics & Government

Brexit. Trump. LePen. The Five Star Movement. The recent success of populist movements and politicians is extraordinary, though the rise of populism is understandable in light of increasing political polarization, disappointing politicians, and exhausting election campaigns. With the future trajectory of democracy uncertain, two important questions remain unanswered. How did we get here? And why did we get here? Exploring how and why populism succeeded, John Agnew and Michael Shin consider the reasons for the Brexit vote, who voted—and who did not vote —for Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen, and the rise of an Italian populist government, Through comparative geographical analyses, the authors literally and figuratively map the rise of populism across the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and Italy. Geography tells us who the people are who have supported populism and the limits and possibilities of its claim to represent all of “the people,” wherever they are. Organized around recurring central themes of turnout, leadership, and media, and using compelling maps, their book encourages thought and discussion on an increasingly important topic—and on the future of democracy itself. 
 For additional materials and a corrected version of Figure 2.1, visit https://mappingpopulism.com/.

Hidden Geopolitics: Governance in a Globalized World

Review\nHidden Geopolitics rejects simplistic dichotomies between state and non-state actors, between geopolitics and globalization. It is a nuanced and helpful exploration of ways to analyze and grapple with an ever more complex world. 
-- Anne-Marie Slaughter, Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 University Professor Emerita of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University\nI have been a strong proponent of taking territory seriously in the contemporary world. But that does not mean that we should ignore the ways in which territorial arrangements and the networks, flows, and assemblages associated with globalization are intertwined. Hidden Geopolitics makes a compelling case for their interpenetration. Drawing on different facets of his rich scholarly oeuvre, John Agnew has developed an account of remarkable historical and geographical depth that offers telling insights into how often-underappreciated geographical extensions of power have shaped, and continue to shape, the world in which we live. 
-- Alexander B. Murphy, University of Oregon\nAt the moment the news is simultaneously filled with both the ‘Great Power’ ambitions of Russia to re-gain a sphere of influence lost since the Cold War, as well as the importance of the SWIFT banking transfer network in the West’s subsequent choking off of the Russian economy. Agnew’s treatise on hidden geopolitics, existing between the national and the global, could not be more timely in thinking through contemporary geopolitics. -- Jason Dittmer, University College London\nTimely and incisive, Agnew once again rethinks the field of geopolitics by turning attention away from analysing traditional actors – such as the territorial nation state – to consider instead the wealth of agents and processes involved in global capital flows. Hidden Geopolitics provides a conceptual toolkit to understand the geographical implications of offshore financing and associated illicit and licit flows of money. It will be an essential text for student and researcher alike, advancing our geographical and historical understanding of the making of the world in the 21st century. -- Alex Jeffrey, University of Cambridge\nThis book is an erudite and broad-ranging exploration of the interplay between logics of the territorial state and globalization in varied forms and contexts. John Agnew convincingly argues that our failure to recognize how “territorial determinism” and a “world of flows” coexist has undermined progress toward understanding and managing global political economy. Hidden Geopolitics points toward new realms of interdisciplinary research and should be pre-requisite reading for those seeking to lead states, firms, and varied regulatory agencies in the 21st century. -- Alexander C. Diener, University of Kansas\nHidden Geopolitics is an intellectual tour de force. Agnew brings a distinguished career of critical thinking about space and power to deciphering how contemporary world politics actually works. What we think of as geopolitics -- territorial struggles between great powers -- obscures the hidden and routine deployments of power over space by a great variety of non-state actors. Geopolitics and globalization are not opposites but entwined co-productions. In case studies of US border politics, Chinese narratives, US federalism and credit-rating agencies, Agnew exposes the hidden ways in which geopolitics actually works to produce the messy, turbulent and unjust world politics we experience every day. -- Gerard Toal, Virginia Tech, Washington D.C.\nJohn Agnew could not have written a more timely and important book. Writing in the midst of a violent invasion of Ukraine by Russia, we need to understand not just the brutal logics of spatial expansionism and the domination of place but also the hidden and messy entanglements of finance, culture, business, energy, and electoral politics. 
-- Klaus Dodds, Royal Holloway University of London; author of Border Wars\nGeopolitics is not d

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Books by Agnew UCLA, John

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Agnew UCLA, John. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Making Political Geography

Making Political Geography

Globalization and Sovereignty: Beyond the Territorial Trap

Globalization and Sovereignty: Beyond the Territorial Trap

Mapping Populism: Taking Politics to the People

Mapping Populism: Taking Politics to the People

Hidden Geopolitics: Governance in a Globalized World

Hidden Geopolitics: Governance in a Globalized World