What is Political Theory?

Abstract

Originally published: 2012. I. What is political theory and why do we need it? 1. What is political theory? -- 2. Why do we need political theory? -- 3. Is there an Indian political theory? --- II. Normative frameworks. 4. Political secularism -- 5. The multicultural framework -- 6. The continuing relevance of socialism --- III. In the face of injustice. 7. How should we respond to the cultural injustices of colonialism? -- 8. Restoring decency to barbaric societies -- 9. Ordinary feelings, extraordinary events: moral complexity in 9/11 -- 10. Literature, censorship, and democracy --- IV. Modernity and identity. 11. Religious and secular identities -- 12. Are there alternative modernities? --- V. Philosophy of social science. 13. Holism and individualism in history and social science -- 14. What makes something social? -- 15. Teleology and ethnocentrism in social science -- 16. Objective significance in critical social theory.