Political theory in the face of a multipolar world

Authors

  • Mario López Areu Universidad Pontificia Comillas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18042/cepc/rep.188.01

Keywords:

Political theory, conceptual history, postcolonialism, Reinhart Koselleck, Max Weber

Abstract

The rise of China and India, the resurgence of Russian nationalism or the failure of the Arab Spring all have in common that they are modern phenomena that are taking place in the non-West. Political science and nearby disciplines often find it difficult to explain this type of phenomena accurately, because its causes and internal dynamics do not fit the Western theoretical canon. This paper aims to reflect on the fundamental task that political theory ought to carry out to equip the social sciences with concepts and theories that can aid them to explain the socio-political phenomena in the new «normal» that is a multipolar world. In the first part we sketch a critical typology of political theory that aims to sort the main lines of debate of relevance to assess the nature of the current heuristic crisis of the discipline. In the second part, using as a reference point the typology, we consider whether political theory requires of an actualisation through the expansion of its conceptual limits so its principles, concepts and analytical tools can continue to assist in explaining political reality. 

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Published

2020-06-05

How to Cite

López Areu, M. (2020). Political theory in the face of a multipolar world. Revista De Estudios Políticos, (188), 13–40. https://doi.org/10.18042/cepc/rep.188.01

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Section

ARTICLES

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