Membership and Morals

The Personal Uses of Pluralism in America

Nancy L. Rosenblum

$99.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Princeton University Press
08 August 2000

Sociology & anthropology; Social, group or collective psychology; Political science & theory

"In recent years, membership has dropped in traditional voluntary associations such as Rotary Clubs, Jaycees, and bowling leagues. At the same time, concern is rising about the growth of paramilitary and hate groups. Scholars have warned that these trends are undermining civic society by creating a dangerous number of isolated, mistrustful individuals and organized, antisocial renegades. In this provocative book, however, Nancy Rosenblum takes a new, less narrowly political approach to the study of groups. And she reaches more optimistic conclusions about the state of civil society. Rosenblum argues that we should judge associations not only by what they do for civic virtue, but also by what they do for individual members. She shows that groups of all kinds--among them religious groups, corporations, homeowner associations, secret societies, racial and cultural identity groups, prayer groups, and even paramilitary groups--fill deep psychological and moral needs. And she contends that the failure to recognize this has contributed to an alarmist view of their social impact.

For example, she argues that, although extremist groups have obvious antisocial aims, they constrain individuals who would be even more dangerous as maladjusted loners.

And she examines the rapid growth of small ""support groups""--which are usually dismissed as politically irrelevant--and shows that the moral support people find in such places as prayer groups and self-help groups helps to cultivate the social trust some scholars say is disappearing. Rosenblum concludes that, for practical and principled reasons, American democracy should permit expansive freedom of association, illustrating her case with discussion of specific cases in law. Rosenblum recognizes, however, that freedom has a price. She reminds us that some groups have oppressive and even criminal tendencies, and she explores what liberal democracy should do to ensure that individuals also have freedom within associations and freedom to exit. Throughout, Rosenblum writes eloquently and with a powerful moral voice, drawing on law, practical politics, and psychology to produce an original political theory of the moral uses of pluralism.

The book adds remarkable depth and subtlety to one of the leading subjects in contemporary social and political debate."

By: Nancy L. Rosenblum
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 254mm, Width: 197mm, Spine: 23mm
Weight: 624g
ISBN: 9780691050232
ISBN 10: 0691050236
Pages: 425
Publication Date: 08 August 2000
Audience: Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , Undergraduate , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Nancy L. Rosenblum is Henry Merritt Wriston Professor and Professor of Political Science at Brown University. She is the author of Another Liberalism: Romanticism and the Reconstruction of Liberal Thought and Bentham's Theory of the Modern State. She is the editor of Liberalism and the Moral Life; Thoreau's Political Writings; and Obligations of Citizenship and Demands of Faith.

Reviews for Membership and Morals: The Personal Uses of Pluralism in America

Winner of the David Easton Prize Nancy L. Rosenblum in Membership and Morals has produced a powerful argument that the worriers have got it wrong--or at least they have chosen the wrong things to worry about... Part of the attractiveness of her thesis is that it purports to cut across the usual lines of political battle... The bulk of her book is made up of an impressive survey of the hard cases of social affiliation ... and her defense in every case of the rights of people in a democratic society to associate with those of like mind and belief. --James Bowman, The Times Literary Supplement Political theory, moral philosophy, and constitutional law desperately require a rigorous analysis of the role associations ought to play in sustaining good society. Such an analysis is precisely Nancy Rosenblum's great accomplishment. --Alan Wolfe, The New Republic Membership and Morals is a thoughtful, challenging, and carefully nuanced book that should be read by all serious scholars of civil society. --Claire Morgan, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science

Winner of David Easton Award, Foundations of Political Theory section, American Political Science Association 2002 (United States)
Winner of David Easton Prize 2002
Winner of David Easton Prize 2002.