Rights, Community, and Democracy: A Sociolegal Critique of the Neoconservative Case Against Rights

Abstract

This chapter critically assesses the neoconservative communitarian critique of rights talk and practices in the contemporary United States. We argue that the critics are unconvincing about: (a) the institutional history of civil rights development; (b) the actual character of rights talk and practices in ordinary life; and (c) the allegation that rights talk undermines community, which remains a poorly specified and implicitly inegalitarian standard. Our argument is developed on the basis of sociolegal theory and empirical study over the last several decades.

Citation

McCann, M. and Scheingold, S. (2012), "Rights, Community, and Democracy: A Sociolegal Critique of the Neoconservative Case Against Rights", Sarat, A. (Ed.) Special Issue: The Legacy of Stuart Scheingold (Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, Vol. 59), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 199-231. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1059-4337(2012)0000059013