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This chapter examines the works of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, who is known for her contribution to postcolonial studies, revolving around gender justice, human rights, and democracy. Spivak criticizes the Eurocentric and male-centric nature and exclusionary framings of political subjectivity. The chapter explains how colonialism revolves around military domination, economic exploitation, and subject constitution, thus explaining that decolonization cannot be achieved simply through transferring power from Europeans to the native elites. Spivak offers a countermodel of individual and collective agency which enhances our understanding of normativity in the era of globalization. The chapter also covers the relation between the European Enlightenment and the postcolonial condition while exploring Spivak’s contribution to the process of decolonizing the Enlightenment. It considers the concept of planetary ethics, which entails forsaking formulas for solving global problems and critical self-vigilance on the part of transnational elites as significant aspects of ethico-political practice.

This chapter discusses Indigenous philosophies which, it argues, have intertwined ecological and political relations. It gives an overview of the key tenets of Indigenous thinking and compares them to prominent features of Western industrial thinking. Indigenous ecologies are deeply associated with the more-than-human world and how Indigenous people construct and craft their governance systems, which aim to be balanced and reciprocal. According to Anishinaabe scholar and activist Winona LaDuke, the principles of Indigenous thinking range between the pre-eminence of natural law, understanding time as cyclical, reciprocity with nature, creation of languages, and the economic organization of Indigenous societies. The chapter explores the interruptions and disruptions to Indigenous ecologies and governance systems through examining colonization, racialized and gendered violence.

This chapter examines the concepts of knowledge, education, and politics in the teachings of Socrates, Plato, and Sojourner Truth through a gender and racial lens. Race, gender, and class are often factors of exclusion in philosophy, and they are interrelated: philosophical justifications for the superiority of one group over another have been influenced by and have in turn reinforced racist, sexist, and classist biases. Contrary to Socrates and Plato, Truth maintained that equality is foundational to justice. In her speeches, she addressed the need for racial and sexual equality, for the franchise for Black people and women. Truth’s critique of racism, sexism, and classism reverberates today in societies that may have eliminated legal discrimination against women and minorities but still maintain it de facto.

This chapter discusses John Locke’s theory of the social contract, which became one of the primary frameworks of political thought in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It focuses on one of his books, The Second Treatise of Government, first published in 1689. Since Locke sees humans as essentially rational beings, he believes that even without a ‘power to keep them all in awe’, humans could live in relative peace with each other, form social lives, and regulate themselves according to the Laws of Nature. While seemingly presenting a universal individual, Locke’s social contract theory in fact contrives only specific individuals as the contracting agents: propertied, European (if not English) men. The chapter situates Locke’s contract within a global historical context by considering the voices that have been excluded from or marginalized within this story. Through these different figures—the servant (wage labourer), the wife, the Indigenous, and the slave—we see a series of tensions between formal equality and material, racial, and gender inequalities.

This chapter assesses John Stuart Mill’s political philosophy, focusing on two particular features of his thought. First is Mill’s relation to the liberal political tradition. Second are his writings on race, gender, and empire, which have in recent years come into greater prominence. The chapter begins by highlighting Mill’s contributions to liberal political theory and utilitarian ethics, the two traditions of thought with which he’s most commonly associated. It then examines his views on government and democracy. The chapter also considers Mill’s views on human diversity and difference, showing how his treatments of race, empire, and gender intersect with his liberalism. Finally, it reflects on what we might think about his political philosophy in light of his imperialist entanglements.

This chapter focuses on the works of Karl Marx from 1845 onwards, because it is in those works that the theories and concepts for which he is best known were developed. It begins by explaining Marx’s materialist conception of history, mainly through the manuscripts published posthumously as The German Ideology (originally co-authored 1845–1846 with Friedrich Engels) and the 1859 ‘Preface’. The chapter explores some of Marx’s main concepts, including mode of production, class struggle, and ideology. The chapter then turns to Marx’s critical analysis of the capitalist mode of production, especially as found in the Communist Manifesto (1848, with Engels) and Capital Volume One (1867). Finally, it examines Marx’s views on the state and contrasts them with those of his anarchist contemporaries. While acknowledging Marx’s weaknesses, especially with respect to the analysis of race and gender, the chapter defends his continuing relevance.

This chapter presents the seminal work of chief counsellor Kautilya, Arthaśāstra. Arthaśāstra has been unanimously accepted not only as one of the most precious works of Sanskrit literature, but also as an ancient Indian compendium of principles and policies related to political science. The chapter begins by unfolding the ‘philosophical foundation’ of Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra. A systematic study of this foundation clarifies the moral footing of Kautilya’s political theory. The chapter then unpacks the structural and functional outlook of Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra, demonstrating how Kautilya’s political theory is eclectic. It fuses the allegedly conflicting rational/prudential and abstract/ideal concerns in politics, thereby outdoing the prescriptions of Eurocentric realpolitik. Finally, the chapter inspects the position of gender and caste in Kautilya’s political theory. In so doing, it probes the gaps between Kautilya’s theoretical plan and its practical performance.

This chapter looks at the work of Judith Butler on feminism and queer theory. It presents their theory on performativity and parody, and explores the theoretical underpinning of Butler’s theory of subjectivity. Butler’s theorization of gender originated from a broader concern about which lives matter, whose lives get to count as human and whose lives are constrained and subjected to unbearable violence. The chapter highlights the continuing significance and relevance of Butler’s political thought in today’s society as Butler became a vocal critic of Western-centrism, US nationalism, and Zionism. Additionally, the chapter explains how Butler developed non-violent, anti-war politics which emphasized the need for people to live differently instead of within neoliberal rationality and individualism.

This chapter expounds on the political thought of feminist philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft, with a focus on her influential analysis of gender inequality. It highlights her most famous work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, by focusing on its radical arguments on gender, reason, and education. The chapter contextualizes Wollstonecraft’s work within the republican tradition, which underpinned her opposition to slavery and her recognition of global inequalities. The chapter suggests that her arguments for emancipation were justified by problematic assumptions of universalism that were made more complicated by the tensions of class, motherhood, and Orientalism. It also tackles the backlash against her memoir, published by her husband, as it unveiled her suicide attempts, a dysfunctional childhood, and a child being born out of wedlock.

This chapter offers a brief account of Frantz Fanon’s life and experiences, which provided the material for his analysis of the psychology of racialized colonialism. The chapter investigates his account of the psychology of race and gender with in a world where such categories operate to organize privileges. Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth (1962) examines the violence of colonization and decolonization, especially with respect to the use of revolutionary violence and the struggles of transforming liberation movements into long-lasting regimes providing freedom. Moreover, Fanon’s prediction of the systemic dysfunctions of postcolonial regimes provides valuable tools for analysing contemporary global politics. The chapter also acknowledges Fanon’s ultimate message that overcoming oppression means accepting collective responsibility for making and remaking the world, regardless of conditions.

This chapter discusses W.E.B. Du Bois’s political thought and strategies for political advocacy which primarily focus on the politics of race, colonialism, gender, and labour. It also explains the key concepts in Du Bois’s criticism of how the white supremacist ideology shaped modern societies to create the colour line and to exclude members of vulnerable groups. These concepts include the doctrine of racialism, double consciousness, and Pan-Africanism. The chapter recognizes Du Bois’s contributions to Black feminist thought and American labour politics, which inspired major social justice movements in the twentieth century. Thus, Du Bois’s political thought shored up the contradictions in the liberal principles of freedom and equality for all.