The forms of status quo critique that current approaches to realist political theory enable are
unsatisfactory. They either formulate standards of constructive critique, but remain uncritical …

This introductory chapter gives an overview of the debate on realism in political theory and
sets out two themes that are particularly important for this debate: the role of practice in …

Marx is a theorist of emancipation, famous as a trailblazing analyst of capitalism, a fierce
critic of its alienation and domination, and perhaps the greatest socialist thinker to date. Yet …

Realist political theory is often confronted with the objection that it is biased towards the
status quo. Although this criticism overlooks the fact that realist political theories contain …

There is long-standing disagreement about how radical Adam Smith should be taken to be.
Recently, Jonathan Israel's work on the enlightenment situates Smith as a moderate …

This chapter explores the methodological development that Marx underwent during the
years 1843–1844, during which he shifted from one realist approach to political theorising to …