Critical Concepts: An Introduction to Politics (4th Edition)

Critical Concepts: An Introduction to Politics introduces students to the fundamentals of political science, incorporating post-modern ideas and critiques throughout, while integrating the concepts of multiculturalism, feminism, ecology, and other progressive perspectives.  Critical Concepts is a contributed volume that draws on the expertise of many respected Canadian political scientists.  Each chapter introduces a critical political concept, describes its importance in the study of politics, and outlines the debates that the concept has engendered in political life and for the discipline of political science.  Each chapter also explores how the contemporary political environment challenges the meaning and relevance of these concepts.  The fourth edition is now comprised of 27 chapters with 11 all-new chapters enhancing its currency and  contemporary appeal.

Editor: Janine Brodie is a professor of political science and Canada Research Chair in Political Economy and Social Governance at the University of Alberta. Dr. Brodie was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2002. Before joining the University of Alberta in 1996, she was also the first Director of the York Centre for Feminist Research, the John Robarts Chair in Canadian Studies at York University, and the University of Western Ontario Visiting Chair in Public Policy. She has published widely in the areas of Canadian politics, gender and politics, and globalization and governance.

Editor: Sandra Rein is an assistant professor of Political Studies at the University of Alberta. Dr. Rein’s primary fields of interest include international political economy, international relations, and social theory. She is currently completing a manuscript on the early philosophical works of Raya Dunayevskaya.

Cartoonist: Malcolm Mayes is one of Canada’s most widely read political cartoonists; his work has been published in over 150 Canadian publications, including Maclean’s, the Toronto Star, the Montreal Gazette, and the Ottawa Citizen. He’s won numerous internal Southam awards and was nominated twice for a National Newspaper Award. In 1996 he published a cartoon collection entitled Political Asylum.