![]() |
![]() |
Your cart is empty |
||
Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political control & freedoms > Human rights > Civil rights & citizenship
The Dred Scott decision of 1857 is widely (and correctly) regarded as the very worst in the long history of the U.S. Supreme Court. The decision held that no African American could ever be a U.S. citizen and declared that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was unconstitutional and void. The decision thus appeared to promise that slavery would be forever protected in the great American West. Prompting mass outrage, the decision was a crucial step on the road that led to the Civil War. Dred Scott and the Dangers of a Political Court traces the history of the case and tells the story of many of the key people involved, including Dred and Harriet Scott, President James Buchanan, Chief Justice Roger Taney, and Abraham Lincoln. The book also examines in some detail each of the nine separate Opinions written by the Court's Justices, connecting each with the respective Justices' past views on slavery and the law. That examination demonstrates that the majority Justices were willing to embrace virtually any flimsy legal argument they could find at hand in an effort to justify the pro-slavery result they had predetermined. Many modern commentators view the case chiefly in relation to Roe v Wade and related controversies in modern constitutional law: some conservative critics attempt to argue that Dred Scott exemplifies "aspirationalism" or "judicial activism" gone wrong; some liberal critics in turn try to argue that Dred Scott instead represents "originalism" or "strict constructionism" run amok. Here, Judge Ethan Greenberg demonstrates that none of these modern critiques has much merit. The Dred Scott case was not about constitutional methodology, but chiefly about slavery, and about how very far the Dred Scott Court was willing to go to protect the political interests of the slave-holding South. The decision was wrong because the Court subordinated law and intellectual honesty to politics. The case thus exemplifies the dangers of a political Court.
This is an in depth analysis of the linguistic issues surrounding civic integration and citizenship in nation states across the world. What is required to achieve civic integration and citizenship in nation states across the world? Should language testing be a part of it? This book addresses the urgent need to develop a fuller conceptual and theoretical basis for language testing than is currently available, to enable widespread discussion of this theme and the concomitant linguistic and cultural requirements. The policy proposals for civic integration have so far been conducted almost entirely at a national level, and with little regard for the experiences of countries with long traditions of migration, such as the USA, Canada, the UK or Australia. At the same time, EU enlargement and the ongoing rise in the rate of migration into and across Europe suggest that these issues will continue to grow in importance. This book raises the level of discussion to take account of international developments and to promote a more coherent and soundly based debate. It will appeal to researchers and academics working in sociolinguistics and language education, as well as those working on language policy. "The Advances in Sociolinguistics" series seeks to provide a snapshot of the current diversity of the field of sociolinguistics and the blurring of the boundaries between sociolinguistics and other domains of study concerned with the role of language in society.
Spanning the colonial, postcolonial, and postapartheid eras, these historical and locally specific case studies analyze and engage vernacular, activist, and scholarly efforts to mitigate social-environmental inequity. This book highlights the ways poor and vulnerable people in South Africa, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe have mobilized against the structural and political forces that deny them a healthy and sustainable environment. Spanning the colonial, postcolonial, and postapartheid eras, these studies engage vernacular, activist, and scholarly efforts to mitigate social-environmental inequity. Some chapters track the genealogies of contemporary activism, while others introduce positions, actors, and thinkers not previously identified with environmental justice. Addressing health, economic opportunity, agricultural policy, and food security, the chapters in this book explore a range of issues and ways of thinking about harm to people and their ecologies. Because environmental justice is often understood as a contemporary phenomenon framed around North American examples, these fresh case studies will enrich both southern African history and global environmental studies. Environment, Power, and Justice expands conceptions of environmental justice and reveals discourses and dynamics that advance both scholarship and social change. Contributors: Christopher Conz Marc Epprecht Mary Galvin Sarah Ives Admire Mseba Muchaparara Musemwa Matthew A. Schnurr Cherryl Walker
Poetry, Politics, and the Law in Modern Ireland is a richly detailed exploration of how modern Irish poetry has been shaped by, and responded to, the laws, judgments, and constitutions of both of the island's jurisdictions. Focusing on poets' responses in their writing to such contentious legal issues as partition, censorship, paramilitarism, and the curtailment of women's reproductive and other rights, this volume is the first in the growing field of law and literature to monograph exclusively on modern Ireland. Hanna unpacks the legal engagements of both major and non-canonical poets from every decade between the 1920s and the present day, including Rhoda Coghill, Austin Clarke, Paul Durcan, Elaine Feeney, Miriam Gamble, Seamus Heaney, Thomas Kinsella, Paula Meehan, Julie Morrissy, Doireann Ni Ghriofa, and W. B. Yeats. Poetry from the time of independence onwardhas been shaped by two opposing forces. On the one hand, the Irish public has traditionally had strong expectations that poets offer a dissenting counter-discourse to official sources of law. On the other hand, poets have more recently expressed skepticism about the ethics of speaking for others and about the adequacy of art in performing a public role. Hanna's fascinating study illuminates the poetry that arises from these antithetical modern conditions.
From the mid-19th century through World War I, Turner societies were among the most important secular organizations in German immigrant communities in America. Brought to the United States by refugees from the failed Revolution of 1848 in Germany, the Turner movement became a home for German abolitionists, workers' rights advocates, and other reformers. This book is the result of a project to locate the surviving documentation on the Turner movement. With an annotated bibliography, descriptions of archival collections, historical sketches of more than 150 Turner societies, and an annotated list of all societies in the United States, this research guide opens up new opportunities for examining the influence of the Turners. This book is the result of a project to locate the surviving documentation on the Turner movement, little of which was found in libraries or archives at the time the project began. The book shows that the extent of the movement, the range of its interests and activities, and the richness of its publishing record were much greater than has been appreciated. With an annotated bibliography, descriptions of archival collections, historical sketches of more than 150 societies, and an annotated list of all societies found in the United States, the research guide opens up new opportunities for examining the influence of Turners and German-Americans on the development of American society.
Moves the discussion of American civil religion into the twenty-first century Civil Religion, a term made popular by sociologist Robert Bellah a little over fifty years ago, describes how people might share in a sacred sense of their nation. While hotly debated, the idea continues to enjoy wide application among academics and journalists. Bellah used civil religion to make sense of the turmoil of the 1960s, especially moral debates provoked by the Vietnam War. Now, a half-century later, American society is again riven by conflict over immigration, economic inequality, racial oppression, and "culture wars" issues. Is Bellah's hopeful assessment still useful for understanding contemporary America? If not, how should we think of it differently? Civil Religion Today reassesses the term to take stock of its usefulness after fifty years of engagement in the field. Looking both at the concept and at ground-level studies of how we might find civil religion in practice, this book aims to push the conversation forward, considering how and in what ways it is helpful in our current social and political context, evaluating which parts are worth keeping, which can be reformulated, and which can now be usefully discarded. It suggests we go "beyond Bellah" in theory and practice, thinking about American society in a new century.
This collection of essays offers thoughtful discussions of major challenges confronting the theory and practice of citizenship in a globalized, socially fragmented, and multicultural world. The traditional concept of citizenship as a shared ethnic, religious, and/or cultural identity has limited relevance in a multicultural world, and even the connection between citizenship and national belonging has been put in jeopardy by increasing levels of international migration and mobility, not to mention the pervasive influence of a global economy and mass media, whose symbols and values cut across national boundaries. Issues addressed include the ethical and practical value of patriotism in a globalized world, the standing of conscience claims in a morally diverse society, the problem of citizen complicity in national and global injustice, and the prospects for a principled acceptance by practising Muslims of a liberal constitutional order. In spite of the impressive diversity of philosophical traditions represented in this collection, including liberalism, pragmatism, Confucianism, Platonism, Thomism, and Islam, all of the volume's contributors would agree that the crisis of modern citizenship is a crisis of the ethical values that give shape, form, and meaning to modern social life. This is one of the few edited volumes of its kind to combine penetrating ethical discussion with an impressive breadth of philosophical traditions and approaches. Chapters "What is the use of an Ethical Theory of Citizenship?" and "An Ethical Defense of Citizenship" are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
The American Civil Rights Movement: A documentary history collects in a single, brief volume, documents reflecting key aspects of the Civil Rights Movement: the voices of social activists (and opponents), the legal struggle in the courts, and governmental responses to civil rights issues - public statements, executive orders, legislation. The book is a deliberate attempt to address the shortcomings of capsule histories of the Movement, histories that neglect to describe the range of public and private institutions, organizations, and individuals that contributed to - and hindered - its accomplishments. The introductory essays, providing narrative or analytical background, combined with the range of documents presented, allows the book to serve as an excellent supplement to textbook treatments of modern U.S. history, African American history, and/or the Civil Rights Movement. The book includes over 100 documents - personal narratives, court decisions, news reports, letters, legislation - that provide the reader with insights into the philosophies, strategies, personalities of the Movement. -- .
This book is the first monograph to systematically explore the relationship between citizenship and collective identity in the European Union, integrating two fields of research citizenship and collective identity. Karolewski argues that various types of citizenship correlate with differing collective identities and demonstrates the link between citizenship and collective identity. He constructs three generic models of citizenship including the republican, the liberal and the caesarean citizenship to which he ascribes types of collective identity. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the book integrates concepts, theories and empirical findings from sociology (in the field of citizenship research), social psychology (in the field of collective identity), legal studies (in the chapter on the European Charter of Fundamental Rights), security studies (in the chapter on the politics of insecurity) and philosophy (in the chapter on pathologies of deliberation) to examine the current trends of European citizenship and European identity politics. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of European politics, political theory, political philosophy, sociology and social psychology.
Prior to the 1960s, when African Americans had little access to
formal political power, black popular culture emerged as a tool to
forge community and effect political change. However, with the new
avenues opened to African Americans in the post-Civil Rights era,
many believe the influence of black popular culture on the
political sphere began to diminish steadily.
Continuing large-scale migration to the United States raises the question of how best to integrate new immigrants into the American national community. Traditionally, one successful answer has been to encourage immigrants to learn our language, culture, history, and civic traditions. New immigrants would then be invited become citizens and welcomed as full members of the community. However, a concerted effort is underway to gain acceptance for, and implement, the idea that the United States should allow new immigrants to vote without becoming citizens. It is mounted by an alliance that brings together progressive academics, law professors, local and state political leaders, and community activists, all working to decouple voting from American citizenship. Their effort show signs of success, but is it really in America's best interests to allow new immigrants to have the vote? Their proposals have been much advocated, but little analyzed. Neither a polemic nor a whitewash, Stanley A. Renshon provides a careful analysis of the arguments put forward by advocates of this position on the basis of fairness, increasing democracy, civic learning, and moral necessity and asks: Do they really help immigrants become Americans?
The process of European integration has had a marked influence on the nature and meaning of citizenship in national and post-national contexts as well as on the definition and exercise of civil rights across Member States. This original edited collection brings together insights from EU law, human rights and comparative constitutional law to address this underexplored nexus. Split into two distinct thematic parts, it first evaluates relevant frameworks of civil rights protection, with special attention on enforcement mechanisms and the role of civil society organisations. Next, it engages extensively with a series of individual rights connected to EU citizenship. Comprising detailed studies on access to nationality, the right to free movement, non-discrimination, family life, data protection and the freedom of expression, this book maps the expanding role of European law in the national sphere. It identifies a number of challenges to core civil rights that the current supranational framework is at pains to address. The contributors suggest and develop several new ideas on how to take the EU integration project forward. Civil Rights and EU Citizenship provides an innovative perspective on both the conceptual dimensions and the actual realities of rights-based citizenship which will be of interest to legal scholars, practitioners and policy-makers alike. Contributors include: S. Adamo, P.J. Blanco, S. de Vries, H. de Waele, T. Dudek, M.-P. Granger, K. Irion, A.E. Menendez, J. Morijn, P. Phoa, O. Salat, H. van Eijken, J.G. Vega
This volume brings together a collection of essays analysing the current scenario in South and Southeast Asia with respect to the position of minority groups. Based on an in-depth investigation of some of the lasting minority?majority conflicts of the post-colonial period in countries that often escape comparison, the articles are a rich and critical exposition of the social, economic, cultural and political dimensions of these struggles. The central question being addressed is that of community rights in the modern nation-state and how these are being understood by the two concerned parties and, where and when, thereof, a situation of conflict arose.
Conditional Press Influence in Politics theorizes about and tests the conditions under which the press acts as an independent political institution, and when it cedes its power to other actors or phenomena. Using substantive case studies, Adam J. Schiffer reviews the most politically consequential press routines, and illustrates 'true media influence'-the unique effect of press norms, constraints, and routines on the political world. By moving beyond news content to treat the organizations that produce the content as political actors, Conditional Press Influence in Politics gives a theoretical framework to aid scholars in understanding the news media's role in American politics.
In Print the Legend: Politics, Culture, and Civic Virtue in the Films of John Ford, a collection of writers explore Ford's view of politics, popular culture, and civic virtue in some of his best films: Drums Along the Mohawk, The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Stagecoach, How Green Was My Valley, and The Last Hurrah. John Ford, more than most motion picture directors, invites his viewers into a serious discussion of these themes. For instance, one can consider Plato's timeless question 'What is justice?' in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, vengeance as classical Greek tragedy in The Searchers, or ethnic politics in The Last Hurrah. Ford's films never grow stale or seem dated because he continually probes the most important questions of our civic culture: what must we do to survive, prosper, pursue happiness, and retain our common decency as a regime? Further, viewing them from a distance of time, we are subtly invited to ask whether anything has been lost or gained since Ford celebrated the civic virtues of an earlier America. Is Ford's America an idealized America or a lost America?
In Print the Legend: Politics, Culture, and Civic Virtue in the Films of John Ford, a collection of writers explore Ford's view of politics, popular culture, and civic virtue in some of his best films: Drums Along the Mohawk, The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Stagecoach, How Green Was My Valley, and The Last Hurrah. John Ford, more than most motion picture directors, invites his viewers into a serious discussion of these themes. For instance, one can consider Plato's timeless question "What is justice?" in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, vengeance as classical Greek tragedy in The Searchers, or ethnic politics in The Last Hurrah. Ford's films never grow stale or seem dated because he continually probes the most important questions of our civic culture: what must we do to survive, prosper, pursue happiness, and retain our common decency as a regime? Further, viewing them from a distance of time, we are subtly invited to ask whether anything has been lost or gained since Ford celebrated the civic virtues of an earlier America. Is Ford's America an idealized America or a lost America?
Examining four decades of American antiapartheid activism, Movement Matters analyzes the long-term impact of the American antiapartheid movement on American civil religion. Exploring issues of race, politics and culture, the book presents a fresh look at the importance of antiapartheid activism in America. Movement Matters examines three crucial conflicts that shaped this activism: the debate between those holding an integrationist vision of the civil rights movement and the advocates of a Pan-Africanist view (the Black Power movement); the tension between the antiracist credibility American leaders sought to project to the world, and the anticommunist thrust of American foreign policy which led to a tacit alliance with South Africa; and the dispute over whether non-violence of armed liberation provided the best strategy for ending apartheid. For students of American history, African history, politics and cultural studies, this is a valuable resource and an essential read.
This memoir of one man's coming-of-age through the Civil Rights movement follows his childhood innocence of white supremacy during the 50’s to his awakening as a full-time organizer in the deep south, and the petrifying costs he was bound to pay. Standing serves up an authentic memoir of a young Black boy growing up in a highly segregated environment: the heart of Dallas, Texas, during the era where segregation was the law of the land. Ernest McMillan came of age within an loving family and a nurturing community, virtually shielded from the outside--rampaging tides of white supremacy and a caste system squarely based on color. Dallas is often portrayed as a city in which the Civil Rights movement bypassed, but those claims are mythical in word and deed. McMillan's emergence into manhood fighting for equal rights in the “Black Belt” South and his return to his birthplace to challenge the status quo of the white power structure brought him face to face with forces that were dead set on wiping him off the planet entirely, or imprisoning him in perpetuity.
While this biography of Malcolm X touches upon his early life and young adulthood, it focuses most prominently on the revolutionary's final years, which were largely dominated by his departure from the Nation of Islam and his conflict with Elijah Muhammad. It begins with Malcolm's seven-year imprisonment at the age of 21, when he began his noted quest for self-education and first became familiar with the teachings of the Nation of Islam, and continues through his official adoption of the religion of the Nation of Islam; his ministry at Elijah Muhammad's Temple Number Seven and other significant contributions to the Nation's growth; his eventual disillusionment and rejection of the Nation's teachings; and his pilgrimage to Mecca and other international travels.There is a particular focus on the 11-month period from March 8, 1964, when Malcolm officially left the Nation of Islam, to February 21, 1965, when he was assassinated while delivering a speech at Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom. Throughout, the author addresses a number of important points, assumptions and questions, including the role of fellow prisoner John Elton Bembry in Malcolm's prison conversion; whether Malcolm decided to leave the Nation of Islam before he was suspended by Elijah Muhammad; whether he was seeking martyrdom; and the extent of the role that government agencies played in Malcolm X's death.
The health of American democracy ultimately depends on our willingness and ability to work together as citizens and stakeholders in our republic. Government policies often fail to promote such collaboration. But if designed properly, they can do much to strengthen civic engagement. That is the central message of Carmen Sirianni's eloquent new book. Rather than encourage citizens to engage in civic activity, government often puts obstacles in their way. Many agencies treat citizens as passive clients rather than as community members, overlooking their ability to mobilize assets and networks to solve problems. Many citizen initiatives run up against rigid rules and bureaucratic silos, causing all but the most dedicated activists to lose heart. The unfortunate --and unnecessary --result is a palpable decline in the quality of civic life. Fortunately, growing numbers of policymakers across the country are figuring out how government can serve as a partner and catalyst for collaborative problem solving. Investing in Democracy details three such success stories: neighborhood planning in Seattle; youth civic engagement programs in Hampton, Virginia; and efforts to develop civic environmentalism at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The book explains what measures were taken and why they succeeded. It distills eight core design principles that characterize effective collaborative governance and concludes with concrete recommendations for federal policy.
Catherine Marshall was a vital figure in the women's suffrage movement in Britain before the First World War. Using her remarkable political skills on behalf of the major non-militant organization, the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), she built close connections with major suffragist politicians, leading some, in all three parties, to consider adopting a measure of women's enfranchisement as a party plank. By 1913 Marshall was uniquely placed as a lobbyist, with inside information and sympathetic listeners in every party. Through her the dynamically re-organized NUWSS brought the women's suffrage issue to the fore of public awareness. It pushed the Labour Party to adopt a strong stand on women's suffrage and raised working-class consciousness, re-awakening a long-dormant demand for full adult enfranchisement. Had the general election due in 1915 taken place, NUWSS financial and organizational support for the Labour Party might well have been substantial enough to influence the final results. These impressive achievements were forgotten by the time Catherine Marshall died in 1961. Even recent research on the period has failed to show the full significance of the issue of women's suffrage, much less Marshall's part in the movement. Jo Vellacott's revealing account of Marshall's political work also includes vivid descriptions of a liberal Victorian childhood, a strangely purposeless young adulthood, and the heady experiences of women who, through the awakening of political consciousness, forged a lifestyle to fit their new aspirations.
Citizenship and the Nation State in Greece and Turkey brings
together papers on a transdisciplinary dialogue on nation formation
in Greece and Turkey as successor states of the Ottoman Empire, and
on aspects of civil society in the two countries.
As we approach the end of the millenium, "citizenship" has become a lens through which commentators have viewed the whole range of social, political and ethical issues. This book looks at how schools prepare pupils to become citizens, what kind of citizens they intend to develop, and how successful schools are in their aims. While it focuses on the lack of opportunities for 14-16 year olds to develop the attributes of contemporary citizenship within the present UK state education system, the argument applies to any educational system that has a statutory, content-based rather than skill-based curriculum.
Until recently, feminist theory and citizenship theory have seemed two distinct areas, with writers in both camps seldom discussing the other's work. Feminism and Citizenship challenges this silence, arguing for the need to collect the debates around citizenship and feminism. The author provides an original reflection on the key issues in political theory and advocates a unique feminist intervention into the sub-themes of citizenship including liberty, rights, social equality, political identity, political representation, and political judgment. Rian Voet moves to develop a feminist notion of citizenship by critically discussing citizenship theories and sub-themes, and identifying rudimentary feminist theories of citizenship. However, unlike most feminist texts that insist political theory takes feminism and gender more seriously, Voet emphasizes that feminist theory should reflect more seriously on citizenship.
In this eleventh volume in The World Over series, Simon and Brooks examine and compare the rights and responsibilities of citizenship across twenty-one countries. The countries included are Canada, the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Israel, Egypt, Iran, Nigeria, South Africa, India, China, Japan, and Australia. In addition to reporting on the rights that citizens enjoy in these countries, as for example the right to run for and hold public office, vote, obtain scholarships, and hold government positions, the authors also describe the responsibilities that are attached to the role of citizen_for example, to serve in the military, serve on a jury, and pay taxes. When available, Simon and Brooks report on public opinion data on how proud respondents are of the country in which they are citizens, as measured by such variables as whether they would rather be a citizen of their country over any other country in the world, how proud they are of their country's political influence in the world, how democracy works in their country, and whether they believe they should support their country even if it is in the wrong. Following a brief chapter on the history of citizenship, the book is organized such that the first section provides a country-by-country profile of each of the issues describing rights and responsibilities and reports on the public opinion data. The second part is explicity comparative and describes the countries against each other. |
![]() ![]() You may like...
Suffragists in Washington, DC - The 1913…
Rebecca Boggs Roberts
Paperback
|