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Political Theory 101

Political Theory 101

Public
Liz
Liz

Weekly accessible explainer on one political or economic theory concept, with a slight lean toward progressive ideologies.

Political Theory 101
Political Theory 101
2026-11-03

Historical materialism: What Marx thought moves history

A guide to historical materialism: the five claims packed into Marx's most-quoted paragraph, why the word "determines" has been fought over ever since, and what is left of the theory after a century of argument.

2
Political Theory 101
Political Theory 101
2026-10-27

Exploitation: What the wage hides

A guide to exploitation: the four claims the word carries, what Marx found inside a lawful wage bargain, and the comparison every charge of exploitation quietly depends on.

2
Political Theory 101
Political Theory 101
2026-10-20

Meritocracy: the word that was meant as a warning

An accessible guide to meritocracy: the three claims the word carries, why Michael Young coined it as a warning, how Rawls cut fair selection away from desert, and what the mobility data say about the promise.

2
Political Theory 101
Political Theory 101
2026-10-13

Power: Coercion, agenda-setting, and shaping what people want

An accessible guide to power: the four senses of the word, what Hobbes, Weber and Arendt meant by it, why Dahl's New Haven study and the two faces of power that answered it disagree, and how Lukes and Foucault moved the argument.

2
Political Theory 101
Political Theory 101
2026-10-06

Free speech: Who decides what can be said

An accessible guide to freedom of speech: the three senses of the phrase, what Milton and Mill actually argued, why Marcuse and Popper thought tolerance could be repressive, and how private platforms moved the argument.

2
Political Theory 101
Political Theory 101
2026-09-29

The right to have rights: Why human rights need a country

An accessible guide to Hannah Arendt's 'right to have rights': what the phrase means, why she argued that rights depend on belonging to a political community, the dispute that keeps the idea alive, and what statelessness looks like now.

2
Political Theory 101
Political Theory 101
2026-09-22

Neoliberalism: What It Means, and Whether the Accusation Holds

An accessible guide to neoliberalism: the four senses of the word, what Hayek and Friedman actually argued, how the doctrine became a policy regime, and how far the evidence supports the accusation.

2
Political Theory 101
Political Theory 101
2026-09-15

Orientalism: Who gets to describe the East?

A self-contained guide to Edward Said's Orientalism: the three senses of the term, how a European discourse about the East became an instrument of imperial authority, and the materialist and postcolonial objections that keep the argument alive.

2
Political Theory 101
Political Theory 101
2026-09-08

Property: Who gets to own the world?

A concise guide to property as a system of rights and authority, from Locke and Rousseau to Marx, Nozick, and Ostrom.

2
Political Theory 101
Political Theory 101
2026-09-01

Recognition: Why equal standing matters to justice

An accessible guide to recognition: how social standing shapes freedom and self-respect, why Hegel made mutuality central, and why Fraser argues that recognition must stay tied to redistribution.

1
Political Theory 101
Political Theory 101
2026-08-25

Structural injustice: Wrong without a villain

An accessible guide to Iris Marion Young's structural injustice: how ordinary participation can produce patterned harm, how political responsibility differs from blame, and how power, privilege, interest, and collective ability guide what to do.

2
Political Theory 101
Political Theory 101
2026-08-18

Epistemic injustice: When power decides who gets heard

An accessible guide to epistemic injustice: how prejudice distorts credibility, how missing interpretive tools obscure experience, and why institutional access to knowledge matters.

1
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