New Books in Political Science

In today’s episode from the Vault, we revisit Nadine Gordimer’s James Lecture on the political landscape of South Africa, presented at the New York Institute for the Humanities on October 14, 1982. In 1982, resistance to South Africa’s apartheid was growing increasingly militant, and the state’s brutal repression heightened this tension. In her lecture, Gordimer speaks directly to this political landscape, describing the period as an “interregnum." She discusses the crisis of white identity in South Africa, the relationship between art and politics, the urgency for an alternative political left working toward what she calls a democracy without economic and military terror. This lecture was the basis of Gordimer’s essay “Living in the Interregnum,” published in the New York Review of Books in January of 1983. Nadine Gordimer was a South African writer and political activist. She authored fifteen novels, including The Conversationalist, Burger’s Daughter and July’s People, over two hundred short stories, and several volumes of essays. She was awarded the Booker prize for the Conversationalist in 1974 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991. She died in 2014 at the age of 90 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

In this episode of Democracy Dialogues, co-host Maya Tudor speaks with Yogendra Yadav – political thinker, activist, and one of India’s most prominent voices on democratic reform. A former academic and party leader, Yadav has led influential research initiatives, built new political movements, and worked at the intersection of grassroots activism and national politics. Their conversation explores the forces shaping India’s current democratic crossroads. Yadav reflects on global perceptions of India’s democratic decline, the meaning of its 2024 election results, and the interplay between national and state-level politics. He addresses the erosion of institutional independence – from the electoral commission to the media – and the growing impact of religious polarization on governance. Drawing on decades of experience in social movements, Yadav considers what drives political mobilization, the role nationalism plays in supporting or undermining democracy, and the strategies citizens can use to protect democratic values in turbulent times. From the “thousand small cuts” undermining India’s democracy to the enduring potential of grassroots activism, this episode offers both a candid diagnosis of India’s political challenges and a call to action for anyone committed to safeguarding democratic principles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Recentering Southeast Asia: Politics, Religion and Maritime Connections (Routledge, 2026) assesses the impact of European colonization in the late 19th and early 20th century in ‘restructuring’ the shared past of India and Southeast Asia. It provides case studies that transcend colonial constructs and adopt newer approaches to understanding the shared past. The authors explore these developments through the lens of political figures like Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) and re-examine themes such as the Greater India Society (1926–1959) established in Calcutta, and the role of Buddhism in post-World War II connections, as the repatriation of the mortal remains of Japanese soldiers killed in Burma (Myanmar) acquired urgency. Drawing on a diverse range of sources including archaeology, Buddhist texts, the afterlives of the Hindu temples, maritime networks, and inscriptions from Vietnam and central India, the book will be an essential read for scholars and researchers of history, Buddhism, archaeology, heritage studies, cultural studies, and political history as well as South and Southeast Asian history. Guest: Himanshu Prabha Ray Interviewer: Natali Pearson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Bart Gaens, researcher on India’s international-order vision. Matti Puranen, scholar analyzing China’s multipolar and security approaches. Ville Sinkkonen, analyst framing competing orders. They discuss China’s institutional initiatives, tensions in its security logic, India’s multi-alignment and civilizational framing, and the United States’ uncertain vision in a fractured global order.

Laura Field, political theorist and author of Furious Minds, maps the intellectual currents behind contemporary Trumpism. She traces three overlapping schools of thought, their institutional rise, and how academics moved from theory to power. The conversation covers recruitment, Project 2025, foreign models admired by the movement, and the cultural and political consequences of these ideas.

Mark Stout, historian and former U.S. intelligence practitioner, explores how World War I forged modern American intelligence. He traces early roots from the Spanish‑American War to Mexico, profiles pioneers like Ralph Van Deman, and describes cryptology, aerial reconnaissance, allied liaison, covert actions, and domestic counterintelligence that endured after 1918.

Ting Luo, Associate Professor in Government and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Birmingham, studies platform politics, social credit, and AI governance in China. The conversation explains popular corporatism and how platforms, the state, and citizens are mutually shaping digital rules. It covers commercial social credit, limits of data integration, competition as a check on cooperation, and implications for AI governance.

Caillan Davenport, Roman historian at the Australian National University and author of Behind Caesar's Back, explores how rumors and gossip shaped ideas of the Roman emperor. He traces sources like graffiti and songs. Conversations cover how talk traveled, spurred protests, framed imperial violence, and shaped succession anxieties and impostors.

Peter S. Goodman, New York Times global economics correspondent and author, profiles the billionaire class and its pandemic-era power grab. He traces how wealth concentrated worldwide and sketches the lives affected by that shift. The conversation explores the origins of 'Davos Man', the role of the World Economic Forum, and why calls for stakeholder capitalism often ring hollow.

Jon R. Lindsay, an associate professor at Georgia Tech and author of Age of Deception, explores cybersecurity as secret statecraft. He discusses how trust and institutions enable espionage and subversion. Case studies range from Bletchley Park to Israel’s 2024 pager operation. He reframes Stuxnet as covert action and teases consequences for policy, counterintelligence, and AI-era deception.