Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2021 -

Beyond Justice as Fairness is a pedagogical gem. Nnodim (philosophy, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts) articulates the key ideas of John Rawls's theory of justice in an accessible way that all readers will appreciate. Nnodim identifies the nuances and trajectories of those ideas throughout Rawls's major works and gives attention to the ways in which themes of justice, freedom, and equality are contrasted in classical liberalism and the Rawlsian model. Noting how Rawls's political liberalism differs from comprehensive liberalism, the author navigates the dilemmas of multiculturalism and the plurality of values by focusing on humans' shared political endeavors. Among Nnodim's noteworthy contributions is his application of Rawls's notion of justice as fairness in contexts Rawls may not have foreseen. The final chapter offers a cross-cultural, philosophical analysis of justice and its relation to personhood in Igbo culture. This rich book will be valuable to those interested in human rights and global justice, democracy and citizenship, and individualism and social justice. Those studying philosophy, political science, peace and justice studies, or Africana studies will want this volumeSumming Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.

The use of the word conspiring in the title may be misleading, but Chiu (US Naval War College) successfully achieves a novel synthesis of historical analysis, moral philosophy, and legal theory surrounding cooperative behavior by warring parties. She contends that such cooperation, much of which is formalized in international humanitarian law, rests on evolving concepts and practices rooted in both moral norms and self-interest. Her close examination of a host of specific issues--namely, ideas about fairness in fighting, rules to minimize harm to certain categories of civilian and military personnel, and efforts to terminate wars--reveals the scope and limitations of cooperation. This echoes the conclusion of Oriana Skylar Mastro's The Costs of Conversation: Obstacles to Peace Talks in Wartime (2019) that warring states' willingness to engage in peace talks is a function of their calculations of strategic costs and benefits. Finally, by embedding this ethic of cooperation in the context of just war theory and contemporary armed conflict, Chiu enriches readers' understanding of such interrelationships. Buttressed by impressive scholarship, this readable study is highly recommended for college and larger public libraries, particularly collections specializing in international affairs, ethics, law, and security studies.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals.

This is a thoroughly impressive first book by a young scholar. Reviewing the career-long development of Perry Anderson and Immanuel Wallerstein, Williams (Univ. of Northern Colorado) provides a well-written, sophisticated analysis of the two radical intellectuals while almost entirely avoiding the off-putting jargon that can easily encumber a work of this sort. Instead, he smoothly examines the similar and disparate backgrounds of his subjects; their association with elite institutions such as Columbia University, the Fernand Braudel Center, the British journal New Left Review, and UCLA; and their cutting-edge explorations. Wallerstein, the son of Polish Jewish immigrants to the US, was drawn to world-systems theory; Anderson, the Anglo-Irish offspring of noteworthy figures, subscribed to his own version of political economy. Key emphases in Williams's text include the impact of events in 1956, 1968, and 1989; both writers' activist sensibilities; their propensity to alternate between optimism and despair (the latter of which never became debilitating); and their committed opposition to capitalism and imperialism. Important influences are pointed out, among them Marx, Fanon, Braudel, Polanyi, Gibbon, Sartre, Lukacs, Colletti, and Gramsci. Williams ably underscores his subjects' efforts to create totalizing histories through their macro-historical projects and reflections on agency.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals. General readers.

In his new book, Gunnell (emer., State Univ. of New York, Albany) targets two "phantoms" that have haunted political science in the US. The first is realism--the idea that there is a real world our words and ideas correspond to more or less well. The second is mentalism--the idea that words and ideas reflect states or phenomena of our mind. As Gunnell argues, the alternative to both is conventionalism, the idea that all human activity takes place within what Wittgenstein called a "form of life" made up of words, ideas, and what we do with them. The point is not to deny the existence of a world or our minds, but rather to understand that every theory about such things is what Gunnell calls a "presentation" of a (necessarily unprovable) view about reality, not a "representation" of its underlying, independent facts. Echoing his influential earlier work, Social Inquiry after Wittgenstein & Kuhn (CH, Jun'15, 52-5592), Gunnell shows how these phantoms came to dominate American political science, deftly summarizing much of 20th-century philosophy in the process, and he rebuts the widespread but false idea that conventionalism necessarily entails moral relativism. Possibly of interest to advanced undergraduates, this text will surely attract established and budding scholars of political science, political theory, and philosophy.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, researchers.

Given that the just war tradition has ancient roots (Cicero) and that its transmission through Western culture has depended on Christian theorists (Augustine and Aquinas), the question arises as to how relevant a secular tradition of just war theorizing can be in the age of modern warfare. Just war thinking has adapted to changed historical circumstances, and the eight essays in this edited volume address changes to its applicability brought on specifically by contemporary warfare technologies. The just war criterion of legitimate authority plays a central role in the discussions, and a core issue in the essays is the contemporary problem presented by autonomous weapons and the relinquishing of moral responsibility for such weapons. Issues addressed in the volume include the rights of robots, the role of artificial intelligence, responsibility in private military and/or security companies, and the difference between traditional and revisionist just war theorizing. Laura Sjoberg's essay, which deserves a wide readership, adopts a feminist perspective and situates the just war construct within the whole structure of contemporary violence, deeming nonviolence a "fantasy." Roach (Univ. of South Florida) and Eckert (Metropolitan State Univ. of Denver) have provided a sophisticated collection for advanced readers. The volume contributes significantly to an ever-expanding discussion of war, just war, violence, and moral responsibility.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals.

Crocker (law, Univ. of South Carolina) has written a work that could not be more timely. In essence he wonders how America's constitutional values can "withstand a president who claims exclusive and unreasonable authority to do whatever he deems necessary to protect the nation" and who "lacks a commitment to truthful assertions." Although clearly referencing Donald Trump here, these are issues that go back to the founding of the US and the normative question of the extent to which presidents can and should exert extraordinary powers in the face of emergency and necessity. The notion of an "elastic Constitution" can be seen not only in the actions of Trump but also in historical actions of other presidents, e.g., Lincoln, FDR, George W. Bush, and others, during times they each considered fraught with existential peril. Crocker focuses his narrative around four recent counterterrorism policies (detention, surveillance, interrogation, and targeted killings) while identifying and focusing on both the constitutional powers and the constitutional constraints justifying related presidential actions. This is a very rich and nuanced work combining law and philosophy in a remarkable, tapestry-like discussion. All who are interested in law, politics, and philosophy should find this book compelling.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.

In this excellent scholarly work, Williams (Queen Mary Univ. of London, UK) examines the core ideas of liberalism and the practices that liberal institutions employ when dealing with illiberal institutions. He addresses the related questions of why the imperial expansion of liberalism is tempting and why it so frequently fails. Williams focuses on the intellectual history of liberalism's relationship with colonialism. In this context, he considers the views of Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, Jeremy Bentham, and L. T. Hobhouse, all of whom were critical of European imperialism. This highlights tensions within liberal thought, as these thinkers stand against pro-colonial liberals such as John Stuart Mill and John Locke. Williams also provides significant resources for considering how contemporary liberal societies should approach illiberal institutions. In particular, he identifies five sources for the contemporary view that the Western, liberal way of life should be exported elsewhere. He then addresses problems associated with concerns for justice, progress, and diversity. This book is not only an excellent intellectual history of liberalism and its connection to colonialism but also makes a significant contribution to understanding the forces at work in contemporary politics.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.

After the Arab Spring raised expectations for a sweeping transformation of Arab politics, the Arab Winter dashed them. Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq all saw popular uprisings, but only Tunisia's revolt yielded a democratic regime. Why was this the case? What happened in each country? In this clearly written volume, King (Georgetown Univ.) answers those questions well by drawing on theories of democratic consolidation. In the research on transitions to democracy, pacts are often described as "negotiated compromises or efforts at national consensus that could derail" such a transition and entail a return to authoritarianism. Sadly, only Tunisia escaped this fate. In his introduction, King explains how military, political, and socioeconomic pacts are not the only preconditions for a successful transition to democracy. In addition, and notably in the Arab world, certain nation-state pacts may be needed. To establish domestic unity and transitional justice, in particular to improve human rights and ensure the rule of law, such pacts may be enacted to reform the state apparatus. Only Tunisia saw both of these types of pact. King tells this story in five well-researched chapters with a short conclusion. His book should be an instant classic in comparative politics and would be suitable for undergraduate courses on Middle East politics.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.

This is an erudite, paradigmatic study of the origins of the ongoing Syrian civil war that commenced in March 2011. That it was not just climate change--drought, hotter temperatures, etc.--that caused the war provides even greater salience to the author's main thesis. It was, he argues, "Ba'athist ideologies and government policies, not solely climate, that [were] largely responsible for the crisis, and then, war." Daoudy (Georgetown Univ.) stresses that the drought began in 1998, not in 2011. He notes, "the trend of below-average rainfall and above-average temperatures leading to lower production outputs and yields of livestock was exacerbated by poor timing and inadequate government policies." These dynamics increased economic and social vulnerabilities in the form of unemployment, poverty, migration, and rising inequalities. The author is sanguine enough to think that enacting more-effective policies to stamp out corruption, renew agriculture subsidies, provide better tax breaks, promote job creation, and begin civil-society development initiatives in rural communities, especially in Kurdish regions, could help address some of these issues. But the continuing war makes it clear that none of these policies will be implemented. Indeed, Daoudy suggests that Syria is now well into the process of becoming a failed state. Every policy maker in the US government should read this book.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students and faculty.