On 8/31/07, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
> <http://www.manhattan-institute.org/democratic_capitalism/index.htm>
>
> ANNOUNCING NEW BOOK
> Democratic Capitalism and
> Its Discontents
>
> (ISI Books, 2007)
>
> By Brian C. Anderson
>
> Despite its victory over the messianic creeds of communism and
> national socialism, democratic capitalism, the economic-political
> system that has provided the nations of the West with an
> unprecedented degree of prosperity and freedom, faces extraordinary
> challenges in the new millennium. Not only has a fanatical form of
> Islam disrupted the peace of the postcommunist era, which some had
> wrongly heralded as the "end of history," Western societies also
> remain haunted by internal demons: egalitarian fantasies, moral
> libertinism, an arid and unsustainable secularism, a suicide of culture.
>
> Yet, in Democratic Capitalism and Its Discontents, Brian C. Anderson
> argues that nothing ordains the triumph of these demons over the
> democratic capitalist prospect. Drawing on a rich anti-utopian
> tradition of political thought, he defends the real achievements of
> the free society against an array of critics, from Jean-Paul Sartre
> and John Gray to John Rawls and Antonio Negri.
>
> Anderson pays particularly close attention to the United States, the
> democratic capitalist nation par excellence, showing how it differs
> from other liberal democracies in its robust religiosity, vigorous
> civil society, and constitutionalism—all under threat from the
> American Left. Finally, Anderson explores the thought of some of the
> most insightful friends of the modern regime of liberty, including
> the brilliant French political theorist Pierre Manent and the
> godfather of neoconservatism, Irving Kristol.
>
> Crisply and vividly presented, Democratic Capitalism and Its
> Discontents is an essential guide to the conflicts of our time.
>
> * * *
>
> ADVANCE PRAISE
>
> "Thoughtful, meaty, finely honed essays from one of the rising
> intellectual stars of American public life. Brian Anderson's work
> should be required reading for culture-war combatants who want a
> powerful demonstration of how ideas really do have consequences, for
> good and for ill."
> — George Weigel, senior fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center
>
> "Anyone interested in understanding our political conversation will
> find Democratic Capitalism and Its Discontents an invaluable guide.
> In vigorous and clear prose, Brian Anderson surveys the important
> ideas and thinkers that for good or ill underlie political issues
> from judicial activism to civil society. His defense of democratic
> capitalism is all the more persuasive for its honest recognition of
> liberal democracy's weaknesses. This is the book every voter should
> read before the next election."
> — Bruce S. Thornton, author of Greek Ways: How the Greeks Created
> Western Civilization
>
> "Brian Anderson always brings great intelligence and clarity—and even
> wisdom—to whatever he touches. This book shows the scope of his
> vision and the qualities that have made him one of our most prominent
> younger social commentators."
> — Robert Royal, president, Faith & Reason Institute
>
> "Not just a brilliant anatomy of how capitalism nurtures political
> freedom, but also a wise and penetrating analysis of the manifold
> illusions besetting modern culture, from the temptations of
> totalitarian ideology to the desiccations of radical secularism. As
> erudite as it is readable, Brian Anderson's new book is sure to take
> its place as a contemporary classic."
> — Roger Kimball, coeditor and publisher, The New Criterion
> ___________________________________
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>
-- Jeffrey Fisher DemocracyInAction.org | Director of Community Development o: 202.558.2808 x115 | m:773.960.3599 http://www2.democracyinaction.org/blog
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