Robert E. Goodin and James S. Fishkin’s edited volume combines a fascinating collection of essays, some of which even draw attention to issues on the margins (one might say borders) of political theory, such as selling citizenship, debt relief, or tax codes. Yet the contributors ingeniously demonstrate how approaching their cross-border topic from the perspective of political theory reveals the need to rethink concepts as fundamental as citizenship and responsibilities as critical as avoiding environmental catastrophe.

Increasingly, scholars are studying political phenomena from a global rather than state-centric perspective (e.g., Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink, Activists Beyond Borders, 1998; Andrew Kuper, Democracy Beyond Borders, 2004; Simon Caney, Justice Beyond Borders, 2005). This volume stands out inasmuch as it seeks to take the field of political theory itself beyond borders. Because the contributions, with the exception of the short introduction, have been previously published (most in the Journal of Political Philosophy in 2011 and 2014), the significant contribution of Political Theory Without Borders is to showcase the breadth of innovative ways that political theorists are responding to a “new sociopolitical and intellectual landscape” in which “the old Westphalian borders are increasingly drained of practical relevance” (p. 2).

The contributors reflect creatively on the connections between political theory and empirical research. As Clifford Geertz writes, “reflections on government need government to reflect on if they are not going to descend into academic exercises” (p. 273). While not limited to considering governments, the authors build normative evaluations of existing practices, innovative proposals for institutional reform, and thoughtful redefinitions of political concepts. Indeed, the unique cases employed make certain essays especially useful for showing advanced undergraduates the implications of political theory. Catherine Lu’s examination of the case for reparations for comfort women becomes a wonderful way to see different layers of responsibility.

One strength of this work is its breadth of topics; however, as a result of this breadth, the volume could benefit from a longer introduction or a conclusion that would highlight common themes and implications. The essays are grouped into categories based on how borders are crossed: global spillovers (environmental dangers), global flows (money, innovation, and migration), and global interventions (colonialism, norms of responsibility to protect, and international nongovernment advocacy). The editors briefly discuss how they see the category of interventions following from the first two. The more porous borders become, the easier it is to conceive of intervening in state sovereignty. More reflection in this vein might have brought the volume together a bit more coherently.

Several interesting themes emerge from the different contributions, even crossing the categories just indicated. Some authors develop principles that ought to govern political institutions in contexts that cannot be fully controlled by state sovereignty. George F. Kennan argues that if watchdog organizations are most effective when they have one purpose, then international challenges, such as conservation, require institutions devoted to that purpose, an International Environmental Agency (p. 13). Allen Buchanan, Tony Cole, and Robert O. Keohane contend that if innovation helps create opportunities, protect health, and build social connections, then a Global Institute for Justice in Innovation would address a cause of political and economic inequality that hampers some from accessing “important sites and forms of social cooperation” (p. 138). Peter Dietsch and Thomas Rixen call for an International Tax Organization (ITO) to prevent unjust tax evasion (p. 78). Their argument is a good example of how defending the need for an institution goes hand in hand with an argument for principles to guide it. A “membership principle,” which links the benefits of membership in a country to the duty to pay taxes there, and “a constraint on fiscal policy” principle, which prohibits tax advantages that aim exclusively to lure in foreign investment, ought to guide the ITO (p. 78).

A second theme highlights responsibilities overlooked with a state-centric focus. Providing a recent historical lens, Gareth Evans describes the norm shift from sovereignty as a right to sovereignty as a responsibility to protect human rights (p. 279). Mathias Risse also links human rights and responsibility, but in a creative twist that grounds water rights on a claim to common ownership of the earth such that “water-rich countries have a duty to make good on that human right if other countries are unable to do so” (p. 50). Simon Caney argues that addressing climate change requires a recognition that first-order responsibilities not to pollute need support from overlooked second-order responsibilities, which entail that “those with the power to compel or induce or enable others to act in climate-friendly ways have a responsibility to do so” (p. 33). Christian Barry uses sovereign debt relief to explore how responsibilities could change depending on the capacity of agents. Creditors may actually gain the responsibility to attach human-rights fulfillment conditions onto debt-relief programs (p. 116). Time and context also affect responsibility in Claus Offe’s essay on migration. If a country has allowed migrants to build life plans based even on an omission of enforcement, then “we owe [migrants] what we have given them reasons to expect” (pp. 169–70).

A third theme involves the redefinition of fundamental political concepts. Ayelet Shachar and Ran Hirschl explore the often-ignored case of states using a fast track to citizenship to attract high-value migrants with talents or money. Citizenship has long been understood as a claim of political equality “irrespective of how innovative or talented” a person is (p. 227) and as “a notion of participation, co-governance” (p. 221). What are the implications for the meaning and value of citizenship once it can be sold? Jennifer C. Rubenstein’s essay uses examples of international nongovernmental advocacy campaigns to explore the limits of traditional understandings of representation and advocacy. Instead, she crafts criteria for evaluating advocacy through the lens of “quasi-government power” (p. 304).

The contributions to this volume are so creative and varied that there are many themes to identify. It was perhaps the editors’ intention to leave this task to readers and instead present a snapshot of a vibrant and evolving field in political theory that cannot easily be encapsulated into a few themes. Yet this ambiguity leaves unanswered the question of why the editors chose to include the essays by Kennan, Geertz, and Evans, alongside those from the Journal of Political Philosophy. The introduction does mention how Geertz’s piece represents an older way of evaluating a postcolonial world compared to Evans’s piece (p. 2). The reader might use this approach to conclude that Kennan’s more traditional focus on the international community is meant to highlight the creativity of Risse’s defense of common global ownership of water.

On some level, not forcing a historical pattern over the essays is quite nice, since it prevents one from getting caught up in a sense that there is some grand narrative of progress. Instead of chronological order, the essays are categorized into global spillovers, flows, and interventions. Nevertheless, given the fascinating topics addressed in this volume, it would have been interesting to read the editors’ reflections in a conclusion that adds to what was previously published.