Before the Shooting Begins

by James Davison Hunter

Overview

Addressing America's cultural conflict about such issues as abortion, homosexuality, and family values, the author presents a plan in which America can achieve a renewed democracy, despite these differences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416573241
Publisher:	Free Press
Publication date:	08/21/2007
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

James Davison Hunter is a sociologist who is the LaBrosse-Levinson Distinguished Professor of Religion, Culture, and Social Theory at the University of Virginia and the founder and executive director of the university's Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture.

Editorial Reviews

Hunter follows up his 1991 book Culture Wars with this extended case study of the seemingly intractable abortion controversy, astutely probing the shortcomings in the current discourse. He carefully lays out the rhetorical distortions of activists on both sides and points out unarticulated interests like the unwillingness of ``pro-lifers'' to question the concept of ``traditional family.'' Analyzing interviews and survey data, he suggests that most Americans are ignorant of actual abortion regulations, which leads to a politics of emotion. He criticizes the superficiality of press coverage in probing the implications of the controversy, conservatives and progressives alike who misrepresent the historical and legal record, and he warns that multicultural education may reinforce a ``culture of emotivism.'' Hunter's solution, however--``an enlarged and deepened debate,'' beginning in local and regional forums--deserves a more thorough exposition. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly