Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIn this major new work of political theory, David Ingram successfully melds the utopian impulse to go beyond the constraints of the current global system with a pragmatic framework that pursues the most effective strategies available in the here and now. I especially liked his sympathetic treatment of identity politics, which has suffered specious attacks from the so-called 'left.' Ingram's version of left politics is one I can feel a part of as a Latina. -- Linda Martin Alcoff, Professor of Philosophy, Political Science, and Women's Studies, Syracuse University
David Ingram is an American optimist. Reading Rights, Democracy, and Fulfillment in the Era of Identity Politics: Principled Compromises in a Compromised World is, therefore, an uplifting experience. More American optimists are needed. Ingram's work is an important contribution to this goal. -- Catherine Dauvergne, University of British Columbia * Law and Politics Book Review *
Much of the literature on democracy today is overshadowed by rigid polarities: between universal rights and distinct identity claims, between abstract norms and the striving for well-being or fulfillment. Ingram's book offers a welcome intervention, by showing that many of these dilemmas can be mitigated—not by arbitrary fiat but by compromises that are rationally 'principled.' Prominent compromises investigated are those between deontology and eudaimonism, between Habermasian 'discourse' and Gadamerian 'dialogue,' and between 'preservative' and 'transformative' modes of identity politics. Philosophically rigorous, Ingram's intervention keeps its focus on the concrete agonies of contemporary political, economic, and ethnic struggles. An important contribution to the advancement of equity and democracy in our 'compromised' world. -- Fred Dallmayr, University of Notre Dame
Table of ContentsPart 1 Introduction: New Critical Theory: Taking Rights, Democracy, and Identity Politics Seriously Chapter 2 Human Rights and Differends: The Fragmentation of Reason and Identity in the (Post)modern Age Part 3 I Identity Chapter 4 White Man's Burden? Ethnicity and Race in the Era of Identity Politics Chapter 5 Identity Politics and Law: Reflections on Disability Part 6 II Deliberative Democracy Chapter 7 Democracy and Racial Identity: Reconsidering Representation Chapter 8 Democracy and the Rule of Law: Differends and Crises in Post-Liberal Capitalism Part 9 III Rights Chapter 10 Toward a Pragmatist and Perfectionist Theory of Rights Chapter 11 Human Rights and International Justice Part 12 Concluding Remarks: Achieving Global Harmony Through Transformative Dialogue
