Rights, Democracy, and Fulfillment in the Era of Identity Politics: Principled Compromises in a Compromised World

by David Ingram

Overview

Rights, Democracy, and Fulfillment in the Era of Identity Politics develops a critical theory of human rights and global democracy. Ingram both develops a theory of rights and applies it to a range of concrete and timely issues, such as the persistence of racism in contemporary American society; the emergence of so-called "whiteness theory;" the failure of identity politics; the tensions between emphases on antidiscrimination and affirmative action in the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990; the great unresolved issues of workplace democracy; and the dilemmas of immigration policy for the U.S. and Europe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781461615934
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	04/09/2004
Series:	New Critical Theory
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	280
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

David Ingram is professor of philosophy at Loyola University, Chicago.

Table of Contents

Part 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

Editorial Reviews

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.

Law and Politics Book Review - Catherine Dauvergne

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

In 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 Martín Alcoff

In 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

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

In 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

From the Publisher

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

The Law and Politics Book Review