Global Political Thought

This seminar is open to the public.

This seminar series focuses on pluralizing and globalizing the discipline of political theory and political thought. Invited scholars interrogate these disciplines and explore the promises and the limitations of the category “global” for studying political thought in the field’s historically marginalized regions and in international contexts.

This seminar is part of a larger collective, the Association for Global Political Thought (AGPT), which aims to rethink the discipline of political thought and theory by critically examining the boundaries of the field. The purpose of the AGPT is to work with existing initiatives positioned within and beyond the discipline to explore the innovations in theory, method, and empirics necessary for renovating a field that some describe as having reached an analytic impasse in the face of contemporary, global political predicaments. Since its inception in 2021, the AGPT has made significant progress in building a global network of scholars with and through whom the project can be advanced and promoted. 

Our 2025–26 seminar series consists of four seminar sessions, two in the fall and two in the spring. An annual conference at the end of spring is organized by one of our associated institutions in Shanghai, China. All events are aimed at the academic community at Harvard and beyond, irrespective of disciplinary positions and regional interests. Graduate students whose work explores new directions in political thought, intellectual history, and international history will especially benefit.