Remarks from the Outgoing Editor
| Date | 01 February 2021 |
| Author | Patrick Hayden |
| DOI | 10.1177/1755088220970389 |
| Published date | 01 February 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Editorial |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1755088220970389
Journal of International Political Theory
2021, Vol. 17(1) 2 –3
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/1755088220970389
journals.sagepub.com/home/ipt
Remarks from the
Outgoing Editor
Patrick Hayden
University of St Andrews, UK
The present issue formally marks the conclusion of my tenure as Editor of the Journal of
International Political Theory. When the seeds of JIPT were planted 16 years ago in the
guise of a generalist journal of normative political theory called Politics and Ethics
Review, I had only an inkling of the existence of the field of international political theory.
Although trained as a political philosopher – or, as I prefer for reasons powerfully articu-
lated by Hannah Arendt, as a ‘political theorist’ – my intellectual orientation always
gravitated towards matters of an ‘international’ nature (human rights especially have
been a constant interest since my undergraduate days). Unfortunately, this orientation did
not always fit well with the prevailing research concerns of Anglo-American philosophy
and political theory, which were preoccupied with matters of ‘domestic’ politics.
Surprisingly (to me at least), at the time there were few scholarly outlets for political
theory investigating topics pertaining to international, transnational and world politics. It
gradually dawned on me that the generalist journal I had established might be of greater
benefit to the discipline as a specialist journal furnishing a dedicated outlet to political
theory of this sort. Taking up a new post at the University of St Andrews in 2006 proved
to be something of a Damascene moment, then, as I was welcomed into a thriving com-
munity of scholars and students who eagerly self-identified as ‘international political
theorists’. This moment proved to be the vital catalyst for the metamorphosis of Politics
and Ethics Review into Journal of International Political Theory. JIPT made its formal
appearance with Edinburgh University Press in April 2008 and subsequently moved to
SAGE in January 2014.
For me, political theory at its best should be interpreted existentially as a horizon-
expanding activity, one which continually seeks to move outward in space and time,
pushing boundaries and establishing connections and common ground rather than
remaining inwardly fixated on supposedly immutable, isolated monads. It is, to echo
Gilles Deleuze, a theoretical sensibility attuned to exteriority rather than interiority and
Corresponding author:
Patrick Hayden, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9AJ, UK.
Email: jph10@st-andrews.ac.uk
970389IPT0010.1177/1755088220970389Journal of International Political TheoryHayden
editorial2021
Editorial
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