Jean Elshtain's Books

Sovereignty

God, State, and Self

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Sovereignty

God, State, and Self

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

Throughout the history of human intellectual endeavor, sovereignty has cut across the diverse realms of theology, political thought, and psychology. From earliest Christian worship to the revolutionary ideas of Thomas Jefferson and Karl Marx, the debates about sovereignty -- complete independence and self-government -- have dominated our history. In this seminal work of political history and political theory, leading scholar and public intellectual Jean Bethke Elshtain examines the origins and meanings of &"sovereignty"; as it relates to all the ways we attempt to explain our world: God, state, and self. Examining the early modern ideas of God which formed the basis for the modern sovereign state, Elshtain carries her research from theology and philosophy into psychology, showing that political theories of state sovereignty fuel contemporary understandings of sovereignty of the self. As the basis of sovereign power shifts from God, to the state, to the self, Elshtain uncovers startling realities often hidden from view. Her thesis consists in nothing less than a thorough-going rethinking of our intellectual history through its keystone concept. The culmination of over thirty years of critically applauded work in feminism, international relations, political thought, and religion, Sovereignty opens new ground for our understanding of our own culture, its past, present, and future.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

354

Publisher

Basic Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0786721642

ISBN 13

9780786721641

Who Are We?

Critical Reflections and Hopeful Possibilities

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Who Are We?

Critical Reflections and Hopeful Possibilities

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

At a time when many despair of culture, Elshtain recovers the life-affirming essence of what it means to be human. Respected Christian ethicist Jean Bethke Elshtain finds in the tensions and tragedies of our turn-of-the-century society hope in the recovery of personhood. She explores the internal and external trappings that so easily lead us to forget how to be faithful to something other than ourselves. This is a work of political analysis, cultural criticism, and theological engagement. Elshtain suggests that much of what we rightly interpret as troubling presents fascinating interpretive occasions for Christians, who, of all people, are called to live in hope. She highlights in particular certain aspects of youth culture, taking up popular films like "Seven and "Titanic and tragedies like the shootings at Columbine High School. What she finds running through all of these are examples of courage and a search for a source of truth and meaning that seems to elude so many.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

204

Publisher

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

0802847250

ISBN 13

9780802847256

Augustine and the Limits of Politics

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Augustine and the Limits of Politics

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

Now with a new foreword by Patrick J. Deneen. Jean Bethke Elshtain brings Augustine's thought into the contemporary political arena and presents an Augustine who created a complex moral map that offers space for loyalty, love, and care, as well as a chastened form of civic virtue. The result is a controversial book about one of the world's greatest and most complex thinkers whose thought continues to haunt all of Western political philosophy. What is our business "within this common mortal life?" Augustine asks and bids us to ask ourselves. What can Augustine possibly have to say about the conditions that characterize our contemporary society and appear to put democracy in crisis? Who is Augustine for us now and what do his words have to do with political theory? These are the underlying questions that animate Jean Bethke Elshtain's fascinating engagement with the thought and work of Augustine, the ancient thinker who gave no political theory per se and refused to offer up a positive utopia. In exploring the questions, Why Augustine, why now? Elshtain argues that Augustine's great works display a canny and scrupulous attunement to the here and now and the very real limits therein. She discusses other aspects of Augustine's thought as well, including his insistence that no human city can be modeled on the heavenly city, and further elaborates on Hannah Arendt's deep indebtedness to Augustine's understanding of evil. Elshtain also presents Augustine's arguments against the pridefulness of philosophy, thereby linking him to later currents in modern thought, including Wittgenstein and Freud.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

129

Publisher

University of Notre Dame Pess

Published Date

ISBN 10

0268161143

ISBN 13

9780268161149

Democracy on Trial

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Democracy on Trial

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

Is democracy as we know it in danger? More and more we confront one another as aggrieved groups rather than as free citizens. Deepening cynicism, the growth of corrosive individualism, statism, and the loss of civil society are warning signs that democracy may be incapable of satisfying the yearnings it itself unleashes - yearnings for freedom, fairness, and equality. In her 1993 CBC Massey Lectures, political philosopher Jean Bethke Elshtain delves into these complex issues to evaluate democracy's chances for survival.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

162

Publisher

House of Anansi

Published Date

ISBN 10

0887848540

ISBN 13

9780887848544

Just War Against Terror

The Burden Of American Power In A Violent World

By: Jean Elshtain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Just War Against Terror

The Burden Of American Power In A Violent World

By: Jean Elshtain

Jean Bethke Elshtain has been hailed as one of this country's most influential public intellectuals. Michael Walzer called her award-winning Democracy on Trial "the work of a truly independent, deeply serious, politically engaged, and wonderfully provocative political theorist." These rare qualities are once again vividly in force in Just War Against Terrorism. In this hard-hitting book, Elshtain advocates "just war" in times of crisis and mounts a reasoned attack against the defenses of terrorism that have abounded since September 11. Arguing that those who defend terrorist acts on the basis of their "root causes"-poverty, political conflict, infringement of Western values on Islamic culture-minimize the responsibility of terrorists, Elshtain interrogates the sources of root-cause reasoning and traces them to a fundamental misunderstanding of the Judeo-Christian ethic of war and peace, compounded by "faux-pacifist" positions and retro-sixties cultural romance. Why, she asks, are pacifist alternatives so palpably inadequate? So implausible? Often so irresponsible? How indeed does one respond to acts of terror that constitute an act of war perpetrated against one's own citizenry? Advocating an ethic of responsibility, Elshtain forces us to ask tough questions not only about the nature of Islam but also about ourselves. Elegantly written and forcefully argued, Just War Against Terror offers a badly needed and refreshingly clear look at responses to terror in the modern world.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

262

Publisher

Basic Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0786723599

ISBN 13

9780786723591

The Jane Addams Reader

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Jane Addams Reader

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

Jane Addams was a prolific and elegant writer. Her twelve books consist largely of published essays, but to appreciate her life work one must also read her previously uncollected speeches and editorials. This artfully compiled collection begins with Addams's youthful Junior Class Oration on women as "Breadgivers," features thoughtful examinations of topics as diverse as "Tolstoy and Gandhi" and "The Public School and the Immigrant Child," and even includes popular essays on "The Subtle Problems of Charity," from The Atlantic Monthly, and "Need a Woman Over Fifty Feel Old?" from Ladies' Home Journal. Along with the writings themselves, Elshtain's insightful commentary offers powerful evidence of Addams's remarkable ability to frame social problems in an ethical context, her unwillingness to succumb to ideological dogma, her political courage, and her lifelong devotion to civic and moral life.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

558

Publisher

Basic Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0465012299

ISBN 13

9780465012299

Women and War

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Women and War

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

Jean Elshtain examines how the myths of Man as "Just Warrior" and Woman as "Beautiful Soul" serve to recreate and secure women's social position as noncombatants and men's identity as warriors. Elshtain demonstrates how these myths are undermined by the reality of female bellicosity and sacrificial male love, as well as the moral imperatives of just wars.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

317

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0226206262

ISBN 13

9780226206264

Jane Addams And The Dream Of American Democracy

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain,Jean Elshtain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Jane Addams And The Dream Of American Democracy

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain,Jean Elshtain

A new interpretive biography of the life and work of Jane Addams explores the intellectual movements that influenced her career, her creation of Hull House as a cultural and intellectual center, and her cultural, social, and political impact on her era. 25,000 first printing.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

362

Published Date

ISBN 10

0465024203

ISBN 13

9780465024209

Public Man, Private Woman

Women in Social and Political Thought - Second Edition

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Public Man, Private Woman

Women in Social and Political Thought - Second Edition

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

Focusing on the Western philosophical tradition and the work of contemporary feminists, Jean Elshtain explores the general tendency to assert the primacy of the public world—the political sphere dominated by men—and to denigrate the private world—the familial sphere dominated by women. She offers her own positive reconstruction of the public and the private in a feminist theory that reaffirms the importance of the family and envisions an "ethical polity.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

412

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0691215952

ISBN 13

9780691215952

Public Man, Private Woman

Women in Social and Political Thought

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Public Man, Private Woman

Women in Social and Political Thought

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

Focusing on the Western philosophical tradition and the work of contemporary feminists, Jean Elshtain explores the general tendency to assert the primacy of the public world--the political sphere dominated by men--and to denigrate the private world--the familial sphere dominated by women. She offers her own positive reconstruction of the public and the private in a feminist theory that reaffirms the importance of the family and envisions an "ethical polity.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

378

Published Date

ISBN 10

0691076324

ISBN 13

9780691076324

Jane Addams And The Dream Of American Democracy

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Jane Addams And The Dream Of American Democracy

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

In this eagerly anticipated interpretation of the life and work of quintessential "public intellectual" Jane Addams (1860-1935), Jean Bethke Elshtain explores Addams's legacy thematically and chronologically, recounting her embrace of "social feminism," her challenge to the usual cleavage between "conservative" and "liberal," and the growth of Chicago's famed Hull House into a thriving cultural and intellectual center. Jane Addams and the Dream of American Democracy is a rich and revealing portrait of one of the most extraordinary figures in American history.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

352

Publisher

Basic Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0465019137

ISBN 13

9780465019137

Real Politics

At the Center of Everyday Life

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Real Politics

At the Center of Everyday Life

By: Jean Bethke Elshtain

One of America's foremost public intellectuals, Jean Bethke Elshtain has been on the frontlines in the most hotly contested and deeply divisive issues of our time. Now in Real Politics, Elshtain gives further proof of her willingness to speak her mind, courting disagreement and even censure from those who prefer their ideologies neat. At the center of Elshtain's work is a passionate concern with the relationship between political rhetoric and political action. For Elshtain, politics is a sphere of concrete responsibility. Political speech should, therefore, approach the richness of actual lives and commitments rather than present impossible utopias. In her essays, Elshtain finds in the writings of V clav Havel, Hannah Arendt, and Albert Camus a language appropriate to the complexity of everyday life and politics, and she critiques philosophers and writers who distance us from a concrete, embodied world. She argues against those repressive strains within contemporary feminism which insist that families and even sexual differentiation are inherently oppressive. Along the way, she challenges an ideology of victimization that too often loses sight of individual victims in its pursuit of abstract goals. Elshtain reaffirms the quirky and by no means simple pleasures of small-town life as a microcosm of the human condition and considers the current crisis in American education and its consequences for democracy. Beyond exploring the details of political life over the past two decades, Real Politics advocates a via media politics that avoids unacceptable extremes and serves as a model for responsible political discourse. Throughout her diverse and insightful writings, Elshtain champions a civic philosophy that tends to the dignity of everyday life as a democratic imperative of the first order. "Jean Bethke Elshtain is a person of rare intellect. The moral wisdom that pervades these essays reminds us that when all is said and done politics is about the life and death of real people who are anything but abstractions. Her erudition is remarkable, but equally stunning is her eye for the significant. What she is so good at is helping us see the moral and political significance of the everyday." -- Stanley Hauerwas, Duke University " Real Politics serves as a forceful reminder that Jean Elshtain has been dealing with the real world in twenty-five years of powerful essaying. Transcending ideological categories, she writes out of hope that human beings can enjoy those capacities of reason and faith which make them human. It is a pleasure to be reintroduced to her sustained intelligence." -- Alan Wolfe, Boston University

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

772

Publisher

JHU Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0801856000

ISBN 13

9780801856006

Religion in American Public Life

Living with Our Deepest Differences

By: Azizah al-Hibri,Jean Bethke Elshtain,Charles C. Haynes

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Religion in American Public Life

Living with Our Deepest Differences

By: Azizah al-Hibri,Jean Bethke Elshtain,Charles C. Haynes

A thought-provoking discussion of the public and political expression of America's diverse religious beliefs.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

212

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

0393322068

ISBN 13

9780393322064

One Electorate under God?

A Dialogue on Religion and American Politics

By: E. J. Dionne,Jean Bethke Elshtain,Kayla Meltzer Drogosz

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

One Electorate under God?

A Dialogue on Religion and American Politics

By: E. J. Dionne,Jean Bethke Elshtain,Kayla Meltzer Drogosz

The United States has been described as a nation with the soul of a church. Religion is discussed more explicitly and more urgently in American politics than in the public debates of any other wealthy democracy. It is certain to play an important role in the elections of 2004. Yet debates over religion and politics are often narrow and highly partisan, although the questions at hand demand a broader and more civil discussion. One Electorate under God? widens the dialogue by bringing together in one volume some of the most influential voices in American intellectual and political life. This book draws on a public debate between former New York governor Mario Cuomo and Indiana congressman Mark Souder, who discuss how their respective faith convictions have been both shaped by and reflected in their careers as public servants. This discussion, in turn, prompted commentary by a diverse group of scholars, politicians, journalists, and religious leaders who are engaged simultaneously in the religious and policy realms. Each contributor offers insights on how political leaders and religious convictions shape our politics. One Electorate under God arises from the idea that public deliberation is more honest—and more democratic—when officials are open and reflective about the interactions between their religious convictions and their commitments in the secular realm. This volume—the first of its kind—seeks to promote a greater understanding of American thinking about faith and public office in a pluralistic society. Contributors include Joanna Adams, Azizah Al-Hibri, Doug Bandow, Michael Barone, Gary Bauer, Robert Bellah, David Brooks, Harvey Cox, Michael Cromartie, John DiIulio Jr., Terry Eastland, Robert Edgar, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Richard Wightman Fox, William Galston, Robert George, Andrew Greeley, John Green, Anna Greenberg, Susannah Heschel, Representative Amo Houghton (R-New York), Michael Kazin, Martha Minow, Stephen Monsma, Mark Noll, Rabbi Dav

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

260

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

Published Date

ISBN 10

0815796579

ISBN 13

9780815796572

Religion and Security

The New Nexus in International Relations

By: Robert A. Seiple,Dennis R. Hoover

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Religion and Security

The New Nexus in International Relations

By: Robert A. Seiple,Dennis R. Hoover

Religion and Security: The New Nexus in International Relations focuses on a groundbreaking theme. In global security today, religion is not only part of the problem but also part of the solution. This book explores positive nexus points between religion and security, paying particular attention to the resources within the Abrahamic faith traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam that foster sustainable peace. Religion and Security is a lively and insightful collection of analyses by distinguished scholars and practitioners in security, diplomacy, conflict resolution, human rights and theology. As states and nongovernmental organizations alike reconsider their strategies for being relevant in the 21st century, this book provides a practical framework through which both can work toward reducing violence and promoting human dignity. Divided into four parts, Religion and Security addresses themes of war and terrorism, pluralism and stability, military intervention and conflict resolution, and religious freedom and civil society. It underscores a crucial irony: nations that violate religious human rights in the name of 'security' will ultimately be vulnerable to a number of significant threats to stability. This volume is a timely guide to the intersection of religion and security for human rights organizations, security experts, scholars of religion and politics, government and non-government staffers and decision-makers, and students in the disciplines of international affairs.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

211

Publisher

Sheed & Ward

Published Date

ISBN 10

1461675189

ISBN 13

9781461675181

Biotechnology and the Human Good

By: C. Ben Mitchell

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Biotechnology and the Human Good

By: C. Ben Mitchell

Some of humankind's greatest tools have been forged in the research laboratory. Who could argue that medical advances like antibiotics, blood transfusions, and pacemakers have not improved the quality of people's lives? But with each new technological breakthrough there comes an array of consequences, at once predicted and unpredictable, beneficial and hazardous. Outcry over recent developments in the reproductive and genetic sciences has revealed deep fissures in society's perception of biotechnical progress. Many are concerned that reckless technological development, driven by consumerist impulses and greedy entrepreneurialism, has the potential to radically shift the human condition—and not for the greater good. Biotechnology and the Human Good builds a case for a stewardship deeply rooted in Judeo-Christian theism to responsibly interpret and assess new technologies in a way that answers this concern. The authors jointly recognize humans not as autonomous beings but as ones accountable to each other, to the world they live in, and to God. They argue that to question and critique how fields like cybernetics, nanotechnology, and genetics might affect our future is not anti-science, anti-industry, or anti-progress, but rather a way to promote human flourishing, common sense, and good stewardship. A synthetic work drawing on the thought of a physician, ethicists, and a theologian, Biotechnology and the Human Good reminds us that although technology is a powerful and often awe-inspiring tool, it is what lies in the heart and soul of who wields this tool that truly makes the difference in our world.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

228

Publisher

Georgetown University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1589012763

ISBN 13

9781589012769

Book's by Jean Elshtain

Sovereignty

Sovereignty

Who Are We?

Who Are We?

Augustine and the Limits of Politics

Augustine and the Limits of Politics

Democracy on Trial

Democracy on Trial

Just War Against Terror

Just War Against Terror

The Jane Addams Reader

The Jane Addams Reader

Women and War

Women and War

Jane Addams And The Dream Of American Democracy

Jane Addams And The Dream Of American Democracy

Public Man, Private Woman

Public Man, Private Woman

Public Man, Private Woman

Public Man, Private Woman

Jane Addams And The Dream Of American Democracy

Jane Addams And The Dream Of American Democracy

Real Politics

Real Politics

Religion in American Public Life

Religion in American Public Life

One Electorate under God?

One Electorate under God?

Religion and Security

Religion and Security

Biotechnology and the Human Good

Biotechnology and the Human Good

Username

Password

Username

Password

Password again

Birthday

Email