World Politics: A Critical Introduction to International Relations

World Politics: A Critical Introduction to International Relations offers an engaging and accessible exploration of critical theories in international relations. Drawing on a rich array of narratives and perspectives, it provides a systematic introduction to feminist, queer, decolonial, and other critical approaches.

The stories we are told about global affairs are instrumental in creating, shaping, and perpetuating global hierarchies of power and status. This pathbreaking new textbook critically analyses how the Eurocentrism embedded in the international system is the result of deliberate, often violent, political actions aimed at establishing world order. These actions continue to influence daily lives and shape societies in profound ways.

Complete with practical examples, case studies, and vignettes, this textbook is essential reading if you are looking to integrate a broader range of critical perspectives into your study of International Relations.

Catherine Goetze is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Tasmania, Australia.

Catherine Goetze is Senior Lecturer at the University of Tasmania in Australia. She has been an academic at universities in Germany, France, the UK, China and Australia. She speaks three languages and has lived on four continents. Her research spans questions of peace, migration, families in world politics, and feminist IR. She is editor of the Contemporary Reader of Feminist International Relations (2025, Routledge) and author of the monograph ‘The Distinction of Peace’ (2017, University of Michigan Press).