Futures of Political Theory

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00905917221135182
• Published date: 01 February 2023
• Date: 01 February 2023
• Subject Matter: Editorial

https://doi.org/10.1177/00905917221135182

Political Theory

2023, Vol. 51(1) 5

© The Author(s) 2022

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DOI: 10.1177/00905917221135182

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Editorial

Futures of Political

Theory

Political theory is a hard genre to define. Although we often write about the

past, we are not historians. Although we often consider ethical questions, we

are not philosophers. Although we often work in political science depart-

ments, we do not feel constrained to study political realities but often specu-

late about political ideals and systems that do not yet exist.

One way to understand the genre of political theory (certainly not the only

one) is to think of it as a collection of fictions that are dissatisfied with their

status as fictions and seek to become the political facts, or enacted ideals, of

the future. Some political theory takes the form of blueprints for ideal states;

other work critiques existing conditions and principles; still other texts exam-

ine the thought of those from the distant past or fugitive cultures and com-

munities. Yet all these subgenres share the goal of shaping a future superior

to our present along some dimension that we recognize as political: justice,

freedom, individuality, planetary health. There is no point in trying to draw a

boundary around political theory, and we take it as a prime editorial principle

to always be open to work that expands our understanding of what the field is

and what it is capable of. But this orientation toward the future is common

among much of the work that is regarded as political theory.

In this 50th anniversary issue of Political Theory, we asked our contribu-

tors to lean into the fiction-that-might-be-fact element of our field by writing

political theory from the perspective of an imagined future. We left it open

to the contributors how far into the future to imagine and what aspect of the

future to investigate. We were very pleased with the outpouring of proposals

that we received and the high quality of the essays and other writings that

were ultimately submitted. The result is the rich and diverse set of perspec-

tives that we are proud to present to you in this special issue.

We want to thank all the authors who contributed to this confabulation as

well as those who proposed essays that we did not have space to include, but

which we hope will find expression elsewhere. We also want to thank our

assistant editors, Executive Editorial Committee, and reviewers who worked

tirelessly to bring this year-long project to fruition. Finally, we want to thank

our readers who, for fifty years, have supported Political Theory with their

attention, criticism, and interest. The future of our shared endeavor remains

in your hands.

1135182PTXXXX10.1177/00905917221135182Political TheoryEditorial

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