Description:
An examination of the discourse of political prisoners as a form of vernacular rhetoric
Review Quotes:
The prisoner of conscience has much to tell us. In the name of moving beyond the limits of traditional human rights doctrine, it behooves us to listen. In this ground-breaking and altogether important work, Gerard Hauser discovers a moral vernacular that sheds new light on the human condition and the place of human rights in public life. A call to hear the terms and power of "ordinary virtue" in the midst of evil, Hauser's book is a timely and sophisticated mediation on the possibility of human solidarity. Its challenge to think human rights as a discourse that works outside the fold of law's founding exception deserves careful consideration and will surely inform the work of scholars in rhetoric, political theory, legal studies, and international relations.
-- "Erik Doxtader"