Laws Promise, Laws Expression: Visions of Power in the Politics of Race, Gender, and Religion

by Kenneth L. Karst

Book Overview

The conservative ""social issues agenda"" promises to use the power of law to effect a cultural counterrevolution that would negate the successes of the civil rights movement, the women's movement, and the gay rights movement. In this lively and provocative book, ([a constitutional law scholar] for law ads) the author of Belonging to America discusses a wide range of issues-from street crime and pornography to abortion and school prayer-and argues...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300065078
• ISBN13: 9780300065077
• Release Date: September 1995
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 334 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.9" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A most intelligent book

Many social science books are propaganda pieces for a particular viewpoint or ideology. Not this one. This one is a calm, cool, and collected analysis of why the conservative social-issue agenda is not a true defense of any family value but an effort to push the political interests of those with an old-time white male evangelical Christian ideal, at the expense of everyone else -- blacks, women, libertarians, Native Americans, Jews, other non-christians, etc. On the other hand, this book is not a textbook, and does require some prior knowledge of U.S. constitutional law. It may be easier to understand to readers with at least a college-level government or constitutional law class.