Synopses & Reviews
Read the Authors' Op-Ed on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sin No More offers a vivid examination of some of the most morally and politically disputed issues of our time: abortion, gay rights, assisted suicide, stem cell research, and legalized gambling. These are moral values issues, all of which are hotly, sometimes violently, contested in America. The authors cover these issues in depth, looking at the nature of efforts to initiate reforms, to define constituencies, to mobilize resources, to frame debates, and to shape public opinion—all in an effort to achieve social change, create, or re-write legislation. Of the issues under scrutiny only legalized gambling has managed to achieve widespread acceptance despite moral qualms from some.
Sin No More seeks to show what these laws and attitudes tell us about Americans' approach to law and morality, and about our changing conceptions of sin, crime and illegality. Running through each chapter is a central tension: that American attitudes and laws toward these victimless crimes are going through a process of normalization. Despite conservative rhetoric the authors argue that the tide is turning on each of these issues, with all moving toward acceptance, or decriminalization, in society. Each issue is at a different point in terms of this acceptance, and each has traveled different roads to achieve their current status.
Review
"Worthwhile for the careful, nuanced studies of specific questions that continue to define contemporary US life."
- Choice
Review
"Sin No More represents a brilliant interweaving of the complexities of economic interests, public opinion, court and legislative action. The authors demonstrate the impact of these forces in understanding the recent normalization of gambling and the steady progress in gay rights. They show there are also early signs of achieving death with dignity and freedom for stem cell research, but access to abortion is increasingly in jeopardy. This book is sure to have a major impact on debate, research and policy in these areas.” - John F. Galliher, co-author of The Criminology of Edwin Sutherland
Review
"Despite the intense culture wars and the ascendancy of religious and cultural conservatism over the past forty years, Dombrink and Hillyard demonstrate that there has also been a marked increase in tolerance for behavior long thought to be immoral. The process of change has been uneven and episodic, a process the authors term ‘problematic normalization. But there has been substantial change. The authors' findings are counter-intuitive. But they are convincing. This is an important book, and it should find a wide audience."
- Malcolm M. Feeley, co-author of Judicial Policy Making and the Modern State
Review
“Sin No More is superbly written, moving across each topic with freshness and sensitivity.”
“In this elegant and nuanced account, Dombrink and Hillyard explore how the depth of America's commitment to liberty and individualism has co-existed oddly with the forceful anti-libertarianism of the religious right. Their analysis of the bedrock values that America cares most about has important implications beyond the specific issues the authors address, making this an important resource for anyone wishing to understand the evolution of the national conscience, and its influence upon law and politics.”
“Sin No More represents a brilliant interweaving of the complexities of economic interests, public opinion, court and legislative action. The authors demonstrate the impact of these forces in understanding the recent normalization of gambling and the steady progress in gay rights. They show there are also early signs of achieving death with dignity and freedom for stem cell research, but access to abortion is increasingly in jeopardy. This book is sure to have a major impact on debate, research and policy in these areas.”
“Despite the intense culture wars and the ascendancy of religious and cultural conservatism over the past forty years, Dombrink and Hillyard demonstrate that there has also been a marked increase in tolerance for behavior long thought to be immoral. The process of change has been uneven and episodic, a process the authors term ‘problematic normalization.’ But there has been substantial change. The authors' findings are counter-intuitive. But they are convincing. This is an important book, and it should find a wide audience.”
“Worthwhile for the careful, nuanced studies of specific questions that continue to define contemporary US life.”
Review
“These 13 well-written scholarly essays are an eclectic compilation covering disparate topics, places, and time periods relating to the African Diaspora. . . . Recommended.”
-Choice,
Review
“Many of the essays included in this volume are excellent, and all of them raise issues of interest.”
-African Affairs,
Review
“Makes a fine introduction to recent scholarship on the African Diaspora, from the slave trade and the geographic dispersal of African people, to the modern conceptualization of the Diaspora as an imagined homeland.”
-International Journal of African Historical Studies,
Review
“Thus this book will be fruitful for ongoing debates on Diaspora and transnationalism and is indispensable for anyone interested in African Diaspora studies.”
-Journal of African History,
Review
“This sparkling mosaic of thought from the African Diaspora redraws the boundaries of relevant scholarship to the benefit of a wide array of students and scholars. A greatly needed volume.”
-Sterling Stuckey,Presidential Chair and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History, University of California at Riverside
Synopsis
Read the Authors' Op-Ed on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sin No More offers a vivid examination of some of the most morally and politically disputed issues of our time: abortion, gay rights, assisted suicide, stem cell research, and legalized gambling. These are moral values issues, all of which are hotly, sometimes violently, contested in America. The authors cover these issues in depth, looking at the nature of efforts to initiate reforms, to define constituencies, to mobilize resources, to frame debates, and to shape public opinion--all in an effort to achieve social change, create, or re-write legislation. Of the issues under scrutiny only legalized gambling has managed to achieve widespread acceptance despite moral qualms from some.
Sin No More seeks to show what these laws and attitudes tell us about Americans' approach to law and morality, and about our changing conceptions of sin, crime and illegality. Running through each chapter is a central tension: that American attitudes and laws toward these victimless crimes are going through a process of normalization. Despite conservative rhetoric the authors argue that the tide is turning on each of these issues, with all moving toward acceptance, or decriminalization, in society. Each issue is at a different point in terms of this acceptance, and each has traveled different roads to achieve their current status.
Synopsis
Diasporic Africa presents the most recent research on the history and experiences of people of African descent outside of the African continent. By incorporating Europe and North Africa as well as North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean, this reader shifts the discourse on the African diaspora away from its focus solely on the Americas, underscoring the fact that much of the movement of people of African descent took place in Old World contexts. This broader view allows for a more comprehensive approach to the study of the African diaspora.
The volume provides an overview of African diaspora studies and features as a major concern a rigorous interrogation of "identity." Other primary themes include contributions to western civilization, from religion, music, and sports to agricultural production and medicine, as well as the way in which our understanding of the African diaspora fits into larger studies of transnational phenomena.
About the Author
John Dombrink is Professor of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of California, Irvine.The co-authors of
Dying Right: The Death With Dignity Movement. Daniel Hillyard is Assistant Professor of Law and Society at Southern Illinois University. The co-authors of Dying Right: The Death With Dignity Movement.