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New Books:
Andrei S. Markovits
Joan Wallach Scott
Barbara Bennett Woodhouse
Andrei S. Markovits, Uncouth Nation: Why Europe Dislikes America
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008). |
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Reviews and Praise for Uncouth Nation
"Interesting and provocative..."
- Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post
"Markovits's research is wide-ranging and deep, and he writes with clarity, precision and…he turns the looking glass on to Europe in some interesting ways..."
- Mary Fitzgerald, The New Statesman
"Markovits impressively documents the long history of anti-Americanism among Europe's elites going back to the settlement of the New World."
- Jeffery Kopstein, The Globe and Mail
"If you wonder where the U.S.-European relationship is heading, Uncouth Nation is a book well-worth reading."
- Sasha Abramsky, American Prospect
"In Uncouth Nation, Andrei Markovits provides deep insights into anti-Americanism in Europe today and delves into many of the facets that make the American-European relationship so unique. This book should be read and discussed! "
- Joschka Fischer, former Foreign Minister of Germany; and Professor, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University
"Anti-Americanism is as old as the Republic--a historical constant, which is only remotely related to specific American behavior. So what is new? Andrei Markovits has delivered the best answer yet, ranging across an astounding wealth of material from politics and culture. Uncouth Nation is a rare academic treat. Rigorous and analytical, the book is also a pleasure to read as it penetrates a critical issue of our time."
- Josef Joffe, Publisher and Editor of "Die Zeit" and Fellow of the Hoover Institution, Standford University
"Andrei Markovits does three things in this excellent book: he provides an account of the historical and contemporary forms of European anti-Americanism (and of its close relative, anti-Semitism); he analyzes the roots and causes of this phenomenon; and, best of all, he gives us a running critique of the frequent silliness and malice of the anti-Americans and of their role in fashioning a certain kind, which is not the best possible kind, of pan-European politics."
- Michael Walzer, Institute for Advanced Study
"Disturbing and provocative, this wide-ranging and passionate intervention convenes history, social analysis, and a sense of anxiety to rouse attention to the underside of the European critique of America. Just as it intends, the book will stir comment and debate on both sides of the Atlantic, especially on the Left. For one, I can't wait."
- Ira Katznelson, Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History, Columbia University
No survey can capture the breadth and depth of the anti-Americanism that has swept Europe in recent years. From ultraconservative Bavarian grandmothers to thirty-year-old socialist activists in Greece, from globalization opponents to corporate executives--Europeans are joining in an ever louder chorus of disdain for America. For the first time, anti-Americanism has become a European lingua franca.
In this sweeping and provocative look at the history of European aversion to America, Andrei Markovits argues that understanding the ubiquity of anti-Americanism since September 11, 2001, requires an appreciation of such sentiments among European elites going back at least to July 4, 1776.
While George W. Bush's policies have catapulted anti-Americanism into overdrive, particularly in Western Europe, Markovits argues that this loathing has long been driven not by what America does, but by what it is. Focusing on seven Western European countries big and small, he shows how antipathies toward things American embrace aspects of everyday life--such as sports, language, work, education, media, health, and law--that remain far from the purview of the Bush administration's policies. Aggravating Europeans' antipathies toward America is their alleged helplessness in the face of an Americanization that they view as inexorably befalling them.
More troubling, Markovits argues, is that this anti-Americanism has cultivated a new strain of anti-Semitism. Above all, he shows that while Europeans are far apart in terms of their everyday lives and shared experiences, their not being American provides them with a powerful common identity--one that elites have already begun to harness in their quest to construct a unified Europe to rival America. |
Joan Wallach Scott, The Politics of the Veil
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008).
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Reviews and Praise forThe Politics of the Veil
"In The Politics of the Veil, Scott does a good job of conveying the hysteria that surrounded the foulard debate in France...Scott's broad and exhaustive research makes for a bracing account of the debate."
- Laila Lalami, The Nation
"Brilliant, crisp, and cogently argued. Joan W. Scott's novel and trenchant discursive analysis exposes the prejudices of the reductionist French versions of secularism and feminism regarding Islam and French Muslims from North African and Arab origins. The study is illuminating far beyond the French case, as former colonial and/or working subjects struggle for integration and recognition of their difference."
- Abdellah Hammoudi, Princeton University
"Carefully argued, insightful and humane, Joan Scott's The Politics of the Veil is far and away the best account of France's identity crisis that was signaled by the famous headscarf affair. The final chapter, on the symbolic meanings of the headscarf/veil, is the most original and brilliant piece of writing that I have read on this topic. This is an indispensable book, transcending the particularity of French obsessions and forcing the reader to think about wider political problems that concern us all."
- Talal Asad, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, CUNY Graduate Center
"Scott traces the history and politics of veil controversies in France and draws apart intertwined strands, starting with the legacy of racism from the colonial past. She persuasively argues for the negotiation of cultural and religious differences rather than their negation. This book will be required reading for all those concerned with the integration of Muslims into Western Christian societies."
- Beth Baron, Professor of History, City College and CUNY Graduate Center, Co-Director of the Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center at the Graduate Center of CUNY
"This is an important and timely book that will challenge the dominant terms used to debate the French government's ban on the veil in public schools. Through a careful analysis of historical and contemporary French discourse on Muslims and Arabs, Scott helps us see how the controversy over the veil is indexical of a deep paradox that haunts the ideology of French Republicanism of which the principle of laïcité is a crucial part."
- Saba Mahmood, Associate Professor of Anthropology, UC Berkeley
In 2004, the French government instituted a ban on the wearing of "conspicuous signs" of religious affiliation in public schools. Though the ban applies to everyone, it is aimed at Muslim girls wearing headscarves. Proponents of the law insist it upholds France's values of secular liberalism and regard the headscarf as symbolic of Islam's resistance to modernity. The Politics of the Veil is an explosive refutation of this view, one that bears important implications for us all.
Joan Wallach Scott, the renowned pioneer of gender studies, argues that the law is symptomatic of France's failure to integrate its former colonial subjects as full citizens. She examines the long history of racism behind the law as well as the ideological barriers thrown up against Muslim assimilation. She emphasizes the conflicting approaches to sexuality that lie at the heart of the debate--how French supporters of the ban view sexual openness as the standard for normalcy, emancipation, and individuality, and the sexual modesty implicit in the headscarf as proof that Muslims can never become fully French. Scott maintains that the law, far from reconciling religious and ethnic differences, only exacerbates them. She shows how the insistence on homogeneity is no longer feasible for France--or the West in general--and how it creates the very "clash of civilizations" said to be at the root of these tensions.
The Politics of the Veil calls for a new vision of community where common ground is found amid our differences, and where the embracing of diversity--not its suppression--is recognized as the best path to social harmony. |
Barbara Bennett Woodhouse , Hidden in Plain Sight: The Tragedy of Children's Rights from Ben Franklin to Lionel Tate
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008). |
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Reviews and Praise forHidden in Plain Sight
"This moving and highly readable book reflects Woodhouse's long career as a distinguished family-law scholar and her deep reflection on the position of children in law and policy. She brings us riveting stories about famous people who, as children, have made significant contributions in areas such as gender equality and civil rights. Woodhouse presents us with the original and compelling argument that children should also have rights, not because they are potential adults, but because of the agency, courage, and vision they can and do exercise as children."--Martha Albertson Fineman, Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Law, Emory University
"Woodhouse's superb, nuanced volume demonstrates the importance of treating children with dignity, shows the connection between children's needs and rights, and conveys how a developmentally based human rights framework can shape the balance between dependency and autonomy on the journey from childhood to adulthood."--Robert G. Schwartz, executive director of the Juvenile Law Center
"This is a wonderful book that essentially teaches us, through the eyes of a child, what it means to be an American--or at least what it should mean. Through profound and beautifully told stories of the experiences of youth, Professor Woodhouse provides new insight and 'a new conversation' about the misunderstood and improperly politicized concept of children's rights."--Marvin Ventrell, president and CEO of the National Association of Counsel for Children
"An intensely personal book, written with passion and conviction. Woodhouse does a highly effective job of conveying the importance of attending to children's voices and agency. This book is likely to attract public attention and spur public debate."--Steven Mintz, author of Huck's Raft: A History of American Childhood
Hidden in Plain Sight tells the tragic untold story of children's rights in America. It asks why the United States today, alone among nations, rejects the most universally embraced human-rights document in history, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This book is a call to arms for America to again be a leader in human rights, and to join the rest of the civilized world in recognizing that the thirst for justice is not for adults alone.
Barbara Bennett Woodhouse explores the meaning of children's rights throughout American history, interweaving the childhood stories of iconic figures such as Benjamin Franklin with those of children less known but no less courageous, like the heroic youngsters who marched for civil rights. How did America become a place where twelve-year-old Lionel Tate could be sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 1999 death of a young playmate? In answering questions like this, Woodhouse challenges those who misguidedly believe that America's children already have more rights than they need, or that children's rights pose a threat to parental autonomy or family values. She reveals why fundamental human rights and principles of dignity, equality, privacy, protection, and voice are essential to a child's journey into adulthood, and why understanding rights for children leads to a better understanding of human rights for all.
Compassionate, wise, and deeply moving, Hidden in Plain Sight will force an examination of our national resistance--and moral responsibility--to recognize children's rights. |
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