This review article explores how individuals are involved in global politics, and asks whether such involvement can only be easily understood when mediated through nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) or whether there are opportunities for recognising direct (global) political engagement differently. It investigates (albeit briefly) whether the political agency of individuals is meaningful in global politics, and whether analyses that might foreground such engagement can balance more structuralist approaches as well as those that seek to suggest that only collective action (organised through NGOs) can be effective on the global political stage. One might anecdotally see a role for individuals at crucial (global) political junctures, but the question is what opportunities might there be for making a more strident argument for the role of the individual in global politics? In different ways the five books explored in the review offer different paths to such recognition, and although none of the books completely help resolve this lacuna, all offer ways to think about the shape that such a project might take if it is to be successful.