A book being published in November, in time for the national elections, is Politics in the Pews: The Political Mobilization of Black Churches, by Eric L. McDaniel, an assistant professor of Government at University of Texas at Austin. McDaniel offers insights into how these churches have made politics part of their mission, and he gauges their various successes and failures. It seems very timely to have a cogent analysis of this phenomenon, especially with the ascendancy of Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. As the ex-minister where Senator Barack Obama goes to church, Wright has used national exposure he has gotten as a result of his association with Obama to drive home fiery points of black liberation theology. Normally militant rhetoric of this kind would not be so prominent in the news media, but the runoff between Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary race has shifted it to the front page. Some people would view Wright’s message, forged in the legacy of slavery and continued fight for equal rights, as being essentially political rather than religious. Books like the new one from Professor McDaniel will help readers understand the forces that motivate black churches and their leaders to engage in politics.
An unusual futurist approach is taken in the new Herbert J. Gans book, Imagining America in 2033: How the Country Put Itself Together after Bush, A Utopian Narrative. Gans discusses seven different election cycles, 2008 – 2032, and outlines how politics will change and go into a more progressive direction. Gans is a renowned social scientist, now in his eighties, and he writes with clarity and has an innovative vision for a whole range of pertinent policy questions that will no doubt be looked at seriously by law and policy-makers.
Sacred Violence: Torture, Terror and Sovereignty, by Paul W Kahn, a professor at Yale Law School, is a book that is much less optimistic about the future than the Gans, Where there is terrorism, Kahn posits, there will be torture. In a provocative argument and almost conversational style, Kahn comes across with rare honesty in saying that torture happens in this day and age and there is little anyone can do about it. Kahn, according to Sanford Levinson at University of Texas Law School, “…forces the reader to grapple with troubling questions that we would prefer to ignore.”
Sometimes it works to a publisher’s advantage to be more focused and have the ability to make big decisions quickly. Harper Collins was the publisher of the first two editions of Betty Jean Lifton, Lost and Found: The Adoption Experience, and Lifton was not happy for whatever reason with the marketing efforts Harper made for her book, so for the third expanded and updated edition, she turned to Michigan. It’s safe to say this book is a classic. Publishers Weekly called it “an articulate and convincing account.” Kirkus Reviews said it was “a provocative, comprehensive survey.” Psychology Today dubbed it “important and powerful.” For thirty years this book topped the “Recommended Reading” lists for those who seek to understand the effects of adoption. Lifton, the author of fourteen books on the subject, is a writer and psychotherapist by trade and here she provides new material on the controversies concerning adoption and new reproductive technologies. She has been a leading advocate for adoption reform, and she continues to add to the discussion on this important topic. There is an expanded list of resources, including those on the Internet. This is a valuable book for both adopted children, parents, caregivers, and anyone who goes through the foster care system.
No comments:
Post a Comment