Harry Potter and International Relations

This accessible and original volume will challenge both Harry Potter fans and students of world politics to think more deeply and critically about different forms of engagement between popular culture and world politics. Drawing on ”enjoyable evidence” from the Harry Potter universe, this diverse yet coherent collection of essays draws on one of western culture’s quintessential commercial mega-texts to demonstrate that our understanding of world politics can be significantly and agreeably expanded by delving into the riches of popular culture. — Jutta Weldes, University of Bristol, U.K.

Nexon and Neumann explore an underdeveloped area of Harry Potter scholarship in a collection of essays covering a wide range of political and cultural topics. In a post-9/11world, international relations is a critical area of inquiry. Their book is a valuable contribution to the growing body of scholarly attention to the boy wizard and the magician who created him. — Lana Whited, Ferrum College

Broaden[s] the contextual basis for thinking about international relations theory to encompass popular culture as well as political experience…. Contributes to the literature that explores how popular culture molds national identity and how aspects of local culture may clash with the process of globalization.

Armed with this volume, scholars who study or teach international relations will be better able to mine the works of Rowling for insights, analogies, comparisons, and examples. — Robert L. Pfaltzgraff, Jr., The Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis

Because of the quality of the insights that this book achieves in examining the relationship between culture and international relations, we as International Relations scholars can read Harry Potter and justify it as ”research.”