Cover image for
Title:
Religion, race, rights : landmarks in the history of modern Anglo-American law / Eve Darian-Smith.
Author:
Darian-Smith, Eve, 1963-
Publication Information:
Oxford ; Portland, Or. : Hart Pub., 2010.
Call Number:
KD671 .D37 2010
Abstract:
"Religion, Race, Rights is a rewriting of the history of modern western law. Challenging the assumption that law is an objective, rational and secular enterprise, it shows that the rule of law is historically intertwined with Christian morality, the forces of capitalism responsible for exploiting minorities, and conceptions of individualism bound up in the 16th century Reformation and rapidly developed in the Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries. Drawing upon landmark legal decisions and historical events, the book emphasises that justice is not blind, because our concept of justice changes over time and is linked to economic power, social values, and moral sensibilities that are neither universal nor apolitical. The author's focus on the historical interconnections between religion, race and rights shines a bright light on contemporary legal issues and foregrounds the cultural specificity of western legal concepts. Moreover Darian-Smith shows how, in a global political economy, Anglo-American law is not always transportable, transferable, or translatable across political landscapes and religious communities." "Dàrian-Smith's new book is an example of what is most exciting about new scholarship in the humanities ... [she] explodes the myth of secularism in modern society, and the illusion of post-racialism, in her unblinking analysis of present dilemmas. Once you read this book you will never again think that the western concept of individual rights is sufficient to resolve the contradictions of modern existence. This is a genuinely important step forward in western scholarship.'--Stanley Katz, President Emeritus of the American Council of Learned Societies and Professor, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University" "Ève Darian-Smith takes us on an amazing journey spanning four centuries, brilliantly illuminating the continuously evolving interplay of law, religion, and race in the Anglo-American experience. This wonderfully readable book is imaginatively organized around a series of eight làw moments' that ingeniously show how legal rights are subtly shaped by culturally prevailing ideas about religion and race.'--Richard Falk, Albert G Milbank Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton University" "Ève Darian-Smith offers a passionate, wide- ranging analysis of the complex, historically-vexed relations among religion, race, and rights over the past four centuries, beginning in 1517 with Martin Luther, and ending at the dawn of the new century with the discriminatory labor practices of Walmart, the recent crusades of George Bush and his theocons, and the resurgence of religious faith ... This is an ambitious work of scholarship, which, by virtue of brush strokes at once deft and broad, challenges us to understand the legal underpinnings of our world in new ways.'--John Comaroff, Harold H Swift Distinguished Professor, University of Chicago" "Lìttle torques public policy in modern America quite like race, rights, and religion. The mix is explosive, fodder for shock-jocks of all political stripes. Few, however, appreciate the historical forces that gave shape to contemporary culture wars. Fewer still perceive that vehemently opposed positions share common roots in the religious history of Europe and its cultural offspring. Brilliantly and concisely canvassing five hundred years of the history of the west, Darian-Smith accounts for the lineage of complex ideas that inform contemporary America. She does so with clarity, insight, and sensitivity. This outstanding work is essential reading for those who would understand our shared present.'--W Wesley Pue, Professor of Law and Nathan Nemetz Professor of Legal History, University of British Columbia"--Jacket.
ISBN:
9781841137292
Physical Description:
[xiii], 329 pages : illustrations, photographs ; 24 cm
Contents:
Introduction : Connecting religion, race and rights -- Martin Luther and the challenge to the Catholic Church (1517) -- Executing the king : the trial of Charles I (1649) -- Revolution and Thomas Paine's Rights of man (1791) -- Sugar, slaves, rebellion, murder (1865) -- Demanding the eight-hour workday (1886) -- Civilizing native Americans : the Dawes Act (1887) -- Nuremberg's legacy (1945-49) -- Democracy, neoliberalism, and the new crusades -- Conclusion : The resurgence of faith.
Personal Author:
Copies: