Here, Harvard Law School professor Glendon argues eloquently and
persuasively that modern American political discourse, by
emphasizing an ever-expanding catalogue of rights to the exclusion
of duties and responsibilities, has lost the central role in civic
life envisioned for it by the Founding Fathers. Glendon shows that,
in American society, both sides in political debates flame issues
in terms of individual rights - flag-burning, domestic relations,
and human reproduction, for example - and that this tendency
impedes understanding and compromise. Such stark formulations, she
says, ultimately lead to coerced, and often unsatisfying, social
arrangements. Glendon makes a compelling case that the American
political lexicon lacks a vocabulary for expressing normative and
moral concepts that individual Americans understand and value
highly, and that the legal culture, with its single-minded emphasis
on obtaining civil rights (as opposed to cultivating moral norms),
has actually contributed, albeit unwittingly, to the debasement of
American political and legal discourse. Glendon calls for the
inclusion of the "missing language of responsibility" and the
"missing language of sociality" in American political dialogue, and
for an increasing emphasis on individuals' responsibilities to
their communities as a necessary concomitant to the rights they
exercise. A forceful and valuable analysis of the banality of
modern American public debate. (Kirkus Reviews)
Political speech in the United States is undergoing a crisis.
Glendon's acclaimed book traces the evolution of the strident
language of rights in America and shows how it has captured the
nation's devotion to individualism and liberty, but omitted the
American traditions of hospitality and care for the community.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
