A central purpose of Part I is to begin to consider how to rethink and to reconstruct critical political theory. The four chapters in this part of the book seek to redefine some of the roots and to explore further the potential of critical theories in the making of world order. Authors approach the relationship between innovation and transformation in world order along three dimensions: historical, theoretical and practical.

Viewing innovation and transformation from a historical perspective, the contributors select important thinkers who grasped structural change in the past – so that we can learn to understand better the conditions of the present transformation. Theoretical innovation today does not mean consigning classical thinkers to the dusty confines of ‘museum culture’. Rather it partly involves reactivating their key ideas and insights in the context of problems of the emerging world order. The next and most important dimension of Part I is theoretical. Authors take issue with, develop counterpoints to, and thus criticise a number of orthodoxies of left and right within the fields of social and international thought. They also highlight the importance of ontology, consciousness and normative aspects of theory.

Stephen Gill's chapter calls for attention to historically grounded and innovatory approaches that can help ‘inform practical knowledge – about global politics, world order and the potential for the future that lies within the capacities for democratic collective action and political agency in contemporary civilisations’.