Zanita Fenton (Miami): The Paradox of Hierarchy – or Why We Always Choose the Tools of the Master's House. A review of Constitutional Democracy: Creating and Maintaining a Just Political Order by Walter F. Murphy. A review of Is Democracy Possible Here? by Ronald Dworkin. A review of Lynn Hunt's Inventing Human Rights: A History.
From Human Rights & Human Welfare, a review of Freeing God’s Children: The Unlikely Alliance for Global Human Rights by Allen D. Hertzke; a review of The Human Rights Reader: Major Political Essays, Speeches and Documents from Ancient Times to the Present; a review of Understanding Human Rights: An Exercise Book by Elisabeth Reichert; a review of Human Rights in the World Community. Issues and Action; a review of Health and Human Rights: Basic International Documents; and a review of Global Ethics and Civil Society.
From Democratiya, Nick Cohen reviews Orwell in Tribune: As I Please and Other Writings 1943-7; and an essay on Edward Said and the Iranian Revolution. An academic late bloomer moves on: Superstar historian Margaret MacMillan muses on her ascension, her powerful ancestors and "poor little Britney". He could be the most important economist of the past fifty years. Yet, notwithstanding his Nobel Prize, Douglass North's work is little known and little recognized, even within the economics profession.
Norman Finkelstein, the famed critic of Israel, has been denied tenure by DePaul University. What does it mean for academic freedom? "Now everyone talks about the union in the open": Workers score a victory at Harvard. High school students in Connecticut weren't allowed to discuss the war, so they wrote a play about it. "Voices in Conflict" was quickly banned by the school, but made it to New York where it brought the audience to tears.
Journey to the Center of the Earth: We know more about the edge of the universe than about the core of our planet. Could a crazy mission get to the bottom of things? An excerpt from Baboon Metaphysics: The Evolution of a Social Mind by Dorothy L. Cheney and Robert M. Seyfarth. A study provides first evidence that chimpanzees pass along newly learned behaviors and customs to other communities. Scientists discover 3,000-pound Gigantoraptor dinosaur in Mongolia. One scientist's junk is a Creationist's treasure: Without your "junk DNA" you might be reading this article while hanging upside down by your tail. The 1 Percent Genome Solution: Tiny slice of genome reveals bustling activity in the gaps between genes.
An excerpt from Exploring Reality: The Intertwining of Science and Religion by John Polkinghorne. A review of The Physics of Christianity by Frank J. Tipler. A review of Early Christianity by Mark Humphries. A review of A History of the Later Roman Empire AD 284-641: The Transformation of the Ancient World by Stephen Mitchell. A review of Youth in the Middle Ages. An excerpt from Tulipmania: Money, Honor, and Knowledge in the Dutch Golden Age by Anne Goldgar. A review of The Pursuit of Glory: Europe 1648-1815 by Tim Blanning.
