Description:
Republicanism, liberalism, and the rule of law have a long and tangled common history in the development of Western institutions. All three claim to secure "liberty" for citizens or subjects of the state, without always agreeing about what this should mean in practice. Mortimer Sellers' The Sacred Fire of Liberty places the concept of "liberty" into the context of its political origins, and explains the structures and vocabulary of liberty that still dominate contemporary legal and political debate. Contrary to the common opposition of liberal and republican traditions as rival conceptions of political legitimacy, Sellers demonstrates the close links between the two, their common roots in developing Western conceptions of liberty, and their eventual divergence over structures of government following the French revolution.
Brief description: Mortimer Sellers is Director of the Center for International and Comparative Law and Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law. He is author of American Republicanism: Roman Ideology in the United States Constitution, also available from NYU Press.
Review Quotes:
"Why do women experience depression at twice the rate of men? This important collection brings the missing voices of women's own experience to the discussion, with rich and original results. Contributors--leading researchers as well as rising stars--provide sophisticated and nuanced studies of women working to make sense of and cope with their experiences of depression. An important analysis of gendered expectations in creating the context for depression. A needed and most welcome addition to fathoming the experience of depression."
-Stephanie A. Shields, author of "Speaking from the Heart: Gender and the Social Meaning of Emotion"