The Rights Revolution: Rights and Community in Modern AmericaOxford University Press, 1998 - 222 pagine The most dramatic change in American society in the last forty years has been the explosive growth of personal rights, a veritable "rights revolution" that is perceived by both conservatives and liberals as a threat to traditional values and our sense of community. Is it possible that our pursuit of personal rights is driving our country toward moral collapse? In The Rights Revolution, Samuel Walker answers this question with an emphatic no. The "rights revolution," says Walker, is the embodiment of the American ideals of morality and community. He argues that the critics of personal rights--from conservatives such as Robert Bork to liberals such as Michael Sandel--often forget the blatant injustices perpetrated against minorities such as women, homosexuals, African-Americans, and mentally handicapped citizens before the civil ights movement. They attack "identity politics" policies such as affirmative action, but fail to offer any reasonable solution to the dilemma of how to overcome exclusion in a society with such a powerful legacy of discrimination. Communitarians, who offer the most comprehensive alternative to a rights-oriented society, rarely define what they mean by community. What happens when conflicts arise between different notions of community? Walker concedes that the expansion of individual rights does present problems, but insists that the gains far outweigh the losses. And he reminds us that the absolute protection of our individual rights is our best defense against discrimination and injustice. The Rights Revolution is an impassioned call to honor the personal rights of all American citizens, and to embrace an enriched sense of democracy, tolerance, and community in our nation. |
Parole e frasi comuni
abortion ACLU activists affirmative action African American Amendment American history American society Amitai Etzioni argue argument aspects attack birth control Bork Catharine MacKinnon chapter civic civil rights movement Communitarian Network Platform conservative constitutional crime critics of rights decision Declaration Defense of American defined definition of community democracy discrimination equality example feminist free speech freedom Hate Speech Ibid idea identity politics important individual rights international human rights involved issue Japanese Americans judicial Justice lesbian and gay liberal litigation Mary Ann Glendon membership ment mentally retarded moral NAACP offensive official organizations perspective principles prison problem protection public schools racial reform Reitz religion religious responsibilities restrictions rhetoric rights culture rights revolution Rights Talk role Rothman rule Samuel Walker sexual Shelby Steele Slouching Towards Gomorrah social Sowell Spirit of Community Sunstein Supreme Court Thomas Sowell tion values Willowbrook women women's rights York