Feminist Democratic Representation by Karen Celis and Sarah Childs

Popular consensus has long been that if “enough women” are present in political institutions they will represent “women’s interests.” Yet many believe that differences among women–women disagreeing about what is in “their interest”–fatally undermine both the principle and the practice of women’s group representation. In this book, Karen Celis and Sarah Childs redress women’s poverty of political representation with a new feminist account of democratic representation. Rather than giving up on women’s group representation, Celis and Childs re-think and re-design representative institutions, taking women’s differences–both ideological and intersectional–as their starting point.

Feminist Democratic Representation considers a broad spectrum of contemporary problematics–abortion, prostitution/sex work, Muslim women’s dress, and Marine Le Pen–to discuss women’s under- and misrepresentation and the “good, bad and the ugly” representative.

Anti-System Politics by Jonathan Hopkin

This book explains the rise of anti-system politics in terms of two separate but closely related developments: the abandonment of the post-war model of egalitarian capitalism and the rise of economic inequality and insecurity, and the closing off of the democratic process in favour of an opaque, technocratic form of governance which allows voters little opportunity to influence policy. With the financial crisis of the late 2000s these arrangements became unsustainable, as incumbent politicians were unable to provide solutions to economic hardship, and electorates demanded change, which had to come from outside the system. The book further compares anti-system politics in the Anglo-Saxon democracies, and in Northern and Southern Europe, explaining how political and economic factors shape the degree of electoral instability we observe. Finally, it discusses the implications of these changes, arguing that the only way for mainstream political forces to survive is for them to embrace a more activist role for government in protecting societies from economic turbulence.

Capitalism’s Sexual History by Nicola Smith

Capitalism’s Sexual History contributes to the study of political science by forging intersections between two large and complex fields – international political economy and queer theory – to develop and advance the still-burgeoning field of queer political economy. It does so by introducing and interrogating the concept of the economy/sexuality dichotomy to better understand the contradictions and connections between capitalism and sexuality that continue to be overlooked in political science and yet are integral to the global political economy. The book breaks new ground by providing a new theoretical approach to the study of political economy and by applying this to uncover a hidden history of capitalism from medieval times to the present day. By bringing together insights from political economy and queer theory as two fields that have often spoken past each other, the book shows how the nurturing of solidarity across difference(s) is both fruitful for scholars of politics and vital for wider struggles against material injustice.

Brexitland by Maria Sobolewska & Robert Ford

“Brexitland” provides a magisterial analysis of the long running political and social changes which have dramatically changed the nature of party competition and electoral choice in Britain. Unlike earlier accounts of the 2016 referendum, this manuscript presents an integrated theoretical explanation for the extraordinary political volatility that Britain is currently experiencing. This theoretical explanation incorporates elements of political psychology, party competition, and the study of the dynamics of public opinion. Bringing together more than a decade of research into the politics of ethnic diversity and immigration as well as voting, Brexitland is an account of a society and political system in flux, and locates the biggest political event in a generation within a broader story of change.