Abstract
With this issue, the editorship of the Journal of International Political Theory changes. Since its founding in 2005 as the Politics and Ethics Review, Patrick Hayden has served as the editor. I will now be serving as editor, with Natasha Saunders continuing as the Associate Editor. Natasha and I are very excited to take over the journal, which we believe is one of the most important and innovative journals in the ever-expanding field of scholarly journals in the field of politics broadly defined.
In this short editorial, I wish to make three points. First, I want to thank Patrick for founding and running this journal for the past 16 years. He has, quite simply, helped to create a space for those of us working in an area which has been vaguely defined and crosses numerous disciplinary boundaries. While there exist some cognate journals, such as Ethics & International Affairs, JIPT has been a home to articles that not only explore the ethical dimensions of international politics, but also explore what Stephen White called the ‘world-revealing’ aspect of political theory; that is, articles which dig deeper into the theoretical assumptions, historical contexts, and the interconnectedness of practices at the global level (White, 1991). Patrick’s own work demonstrates how to negotiate this space between political theory and international relations. His scholarship on Hannah Arendt and Albert Camus reveal how political theorists can speak to global questions (Hayden, 2009, 2016); how cosmopolitanism and utopianism can be both ‘realist’ and critical, a perspective that those working within disciplinary boundaries often fail to achieve (Hayden, 2005; Hayden and El-Ojeili, 2009); how to use concepts such as friendship and evil to interrogate international dilemmas (Hayden, 2014, 2015); and how to expand upon and develop new insights on human rights (Hayden, 2018; Hayden and Saunders, 2019). Across these and so many other areas, Patrick’s scholarship has been an ideal example of what JIPT has tried to achieve over the years. His leadership of the journal has nurtured and supported many young (and not so young) scholars working in these and other areas, from which the fields of political theory, international relations, and politics more generally have benefitted greatly. Following this editorial, five of Patrick’s friends have written briefly about how his friendship, mentorship and scholarship have played a role in their lives. I can only add that not only has he mentored me in taking over this journal, he has also been a terrific colleague and even better friend. As just one small example, he not only bequeathed to me this journal upon his retirement, he also passed along a set of golf clubs which have markedly improved my game (a fact he might not believe based on our last year of playing together).
Second, I want to affirm that the journal will continue to operate in this space that Patrick has helped to carve out. Indeed, his own words in launching the journal will continue to guide my editorship. As he noted in Volume 1, Issue 1 of the Politics and Ethics Review, the aim of that journal was to ‘contribute to critical analysis of issues that arise from the intersection or overlap of the political and the ethical, an endeavour which, by its very nature, is pluralistic and often multidisciplinary’ (Hayden, 2005: v). This pluralist ethos was reinforced when the journal was relaunched in 2007 as the Journal of International Political Theory: ‘The Journal of International Political Theory will promote creative and critical research reflecting the breadth of interests and traditions within international political theory, from historical, analytical, comparative and normative perspectives’ (Hayden, 2007: iv). Finding the right mix of these different disciplinary and methodological approaches is a challenge, as I have discovered in shadowing Patrick this past year in managing the editorial process. One challenge, for instance, is deciding when an article is more relevant for International Relations theory than it is for International Political Theory. This is a fine line, and one that continues to be transgressed by creative thinkers in all fields. We welcome debate and discussion on how to negotiate this line, either in direct communication with us as the editorial team or through articles and review essays published in the journal.
Third, and finally, I hope to develop some new features for the journal. The journal is published in hard copy three times per year. The second issue tends to be devoted to a special issue theme, though this will not always be the case. The journal published review essays once or twice a year, a process managed by our Associate Editor, Natasha Saunders. Natasha also manages our online presence mainly through our Twitter feed (@IPTJnl). The journal has a number of articles which come out in Sage’s OnlineFirst format, which can be found at the journal’s website: https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ipt. While these features make the journal more accessible, I hope to develop and enhance these features in conversation with our publishers. For instance, creating a forum for online discussion of published articles; using the review feature to explore not just books but interesting and important journal articles; and relaunching (in a post-pandemic world, of course) the semi-regular conferences held under the auspices of the journal here at the University of St Andrews. If you have other ideas about how we might improve the accessibility of the journal, or ideas for special issues or review essays, please do not hesitate to send me an email at the journal’s email address:
