Critical Concepts: An Introduction to Politics (5th Edition)

Now in its fifth edition, Critical Concepts: An Introduction to Politics challenges readers by exploring current political issues and ethical dilemmas. Focusing on fundamental concepts in political science, each chapter provides readers with the critical perspectives needed to analyze the major issues we face and how political science as a discipline helps us to make sense of them.

        The objective of this edition remains the same as previous editions: to introduce readers to the fundamentals of political science, to engage them with key and enduring debates, and to explore both conceptual continuities and shifts in a world marked by growing insecurity, political upheaval, and global tensions. Critical Concepts remains a contributed volume that draws on the expertise of many well-known and respected Canadian political scientists.

Janine Brodie is a distinguished university professor 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 and awarded a Trudeau Fellowship in 2010. She has published widely in the areas of Canadian politics, gender and politics, and globalization and governance.

 

Sandra Rein is an associate professor of Political Studies and coordinator of the Augustana-in-Cuba study abroad program at the University of Alberta. Dr. Rein’s current research investigates freedom as an important philosophical and political commitment in the works of Rosa Luxemburg, Raya Dunayevskaya, and Emma Goldman.

 

Malinda S. Smith is an associate professor and Associate Chair (Graduate Studies) in the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta. Dr. Smith has published in the areas of African political economy, terrorism and the securitization of development, poverty and inequality, and race, equity and social justice. Her current research investigates genealogies of race and equity in Canada.

 

Contributors:

Rob Aitken, University of Alberta

Isabel Altimurano, University of Alberta

Siobhan Byrne, University of Alberta

Alexa Degagné, University of Alberta

Roger Epp, University of Alberta

Lois Harder, University of Alberta

Tom Keating, University of Alberta

Catherine Kellogg, University of Alberta

Sean McMahon, American University in Cairo

Steve Patten, University of Alberta

Falguni Sheth, Hampshire College

Meenal Shrivastava, Athabasca University

Allan Tupper, University of British Columbia

Ian Urquhart, University of Alberta

Shauna Wilton, University of Alberta