What would international relations look like if our theories and analyses began with individuals, families, and communities instead of executives, nation-states, and militaries? After all, it is people who make up cities, states, and corporations, and it is their beliefs and behaviors that explain why some parts of the world seem so peaceful while others appear so violent, why some societies are so rich while others are so poor.

Now in a fully updated and revised edition, this unique text on contemporary global politics begins with people, treating them as "social individuals" with free will and human agency even as they are limited and disciplined by rules and rulers. Offering a fresh approach to global politics, this dynamic author team trades perspectives with each other and with such eminent social theorists as Michel Foucault and Hannah Arendt to develop their resonant theme.

Using practical examples as well as theory, the authors show students how they can take charge of their lives and the politics that affect them, even in the context of a vast global economy and impersonal international forces that sometimes seem out of control. Filled with idealism, yet firmly grounded in current realities,Global Politics as if People Mattered is a fresh take on the proper place and potential of individuals in world politicsfront and center, actively engaged in a way of life that is as politically personal as it is politically powerful. This distinctive text, a perfect reading for lower-division politics courses, helps students to carve out their own political space in the contemporary global order.

Mary Ann Tétreault (19422015) was the Una Chapman Cox Distinguished Professor of International Affairs at Trinity University.
Ronnie D. Lipschutz is professor of politics at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Chapter 1: Global Politics Because People Matter
Chapter 2: People, Households, and the World
Chapter 3: People and Power
Chapter 4: People and Economy
Chapter 5: People and States
Chapter 6: People and Borders
Chapter 7: People and War
Chapter 8: People and Justice
Chapter 9: People and Globalization
Chapter 10: People Matter