Liberalism with Honor by Sharon R. Krause

Liberalism with Honor



Download Liberalism with Honor




Liberalism with Honor Sharon R. Krause
Language: English
Page: 286
Format: pdf
ISBN: 0674007565, 9780674007567
Publisher: Harvard University Press

From Publishers Weekly

From where, asks Krause, can a citizen draw the strength to resist trends that seem to fly in the face of the democratic principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence for example, the Jim Crow laws or the more recent referenda targeting gay rights? Krause, an assistant professor of government at Harvard, argues the case for the seemingly outmoded notion of personal honor as a source of such civic renewal. There is irony in this suggestion, of course, given honor's association with an aristocratic, class-based European past. Krause acknowledges this and takes pains to differentiate between the "aristocratic" honor of the old regime and the notion of honor in a liberal democracy. She differs from Tocqueville as well: Tocqueville despaired that Americans' focus on commercial enterprise, coupled with social leveling, would discourage the development of honorable citizens capable of standing up for liberty when necessary. In Krause's view, these fears were largely unfounded. Honorable citizens, she says, make up a "natural aristocracy" of those capable of defending core values despite personal risk. She examines the actions of Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King Jr. to illustrate how the impulse toward honor stems from a mix of altruism, a spirit of civic duty and a desire for public recognition. In some sense, therefore, an honorable act serves both society and the self. While Krause concedes that honor is relatively rare, she contends that its limitations "remind us of the irreducible multiplicity of human motivations." As this rather tepid conclusion illustrates, this discussion, despite the importance of its concepts, is directed at an academic audience.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The title of this work is misleading, as it is much more concerned with honor than with liberalism. Krause (government, Harvard Univ.) seeks to learn how and why people passionately defend individual liberties, even at great risk to themselves. Through a close reading of Montesquieu and Tocqueville, she identifies honor as a key source of "individual agency" and tries to reclaim it from a narrow association with elitism, the "old regime," and romanticism. She then examines the impact of honor in American politics, as conveyed through examples of Southern slaveholders as well as Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, the women's rights movement, Martin Luther King, and the Civil Rights Movement. Krause addresses the limitations of honor in the modern political system and looks at other contemporary interpretations. While this is a scholarly treatise, it is accessible to a wide range of readers. A solid companion to Joanne B. Freeman's recent Affairs of Honor: National Politics in the New Republic; recommended for most academic libraries. Thomas A. Karel, Franklin & Marshall Coll. Lib., Lancaster, PA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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