Global Theory from Kant to Hardt and Negri

Global theory represents an influential and popular means of understanding contemporary social and political phenomena. Human identity and social responsibilities are considered in a global context and in the light of a global human condition. A global perspective is assumed to be new and to supersede preceding social theory. However, if contemporary global theory is influential, its identity, assumptions and novelty are controversial. Global Theory from Kant to Hardt and Negri scrutinises global theory by examining how contemporary global theorists simultaneously draw upon and critique preceding modern theories. It re-thinks contemporary global ideas by relating them to the social thought of Kant, Hegel and Marx, and in so doing highlights divergent ambiguous aspects of contemporary global theories, as well as the continuing impact of the ideas of Kant, Hegel and Marx.

'The unique selling point of this thoughtful and well-written book is the range of material covered - Browning writes with authority on Kant, Hegel and Marx, on modern cosmopolitans such as Held, Giddens and Sassen, on radical theorists such as Hardt and Negri and public intellectuals such as Monbiot and Klein. His central thesis, that the first group of thinkers, the giants of modernity, have more to offer to their modern successors than the latter are often prepared to acknowledge, is entirely convincing.' - Professor Chris Brown, Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics and Politics, UK

Gary Browning is Professor of Political Theory at Oxford Brookes University, UK. His research interests include political and international theory, the history of political philosophy and the relationship between political thought and other disciplines. His previous publications include Critical and Post-Critical Political Economy (2006), Rethinking R. G. Collingwood: Philosophy, Politics and the Unity of Theory and Practice (2004), Hegel and the History of Political (2000), Lyotard and the End of Grand Narratives (2000), and Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit: A Reappraisal(1997).