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The Communitarian Update
Number 45
May 20, 2002
Tell us what you think!
A terrorist has been convicted in an American court. The court authorized review of his
email and calls suggests that he is likely to be an organizer and know of other planned
attacks. He refuses to talk despite various incentives offered. Should he be tortured?
His mother and daughter be arrested? Be turned over to an ally known for their harsh methods?
Or--let him be, although the consequences to American lives might well be very dear.
Please respond briefly, tell us if we may include your response in our feedback, and how
to identify you. We do not run anonymous responses because we hold that true identities
make for better dialogues.
We are pleased to announce a new listserv exclusively for communitarian events held in
the D.C. area. If you'd like to be informed about these events, please sign up at:
http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps/dcsubscrib.html
Communitarian Dialogue: What Conflict Resolution Can Offer the Middle East
The next communitarian dialogue will be held at 3:00 PM on Friday, May 24, 2002 at School
of Media and Public Affairs, 805 21st Street, NW (corner of 21st & H), Room B02. Participants
will include I. William Zartman (director of Conflict Management at Johns Hopkins School of
Advanced International Studies), James O'Brien (member of The Albright Group), Tamra Pearson
d'Estree (Associate Professor of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University)
- invited, and Susan Collin Marks (executive vice president of Search for Common Ground)
- invited. Amitai Etzioni will guide the discussion.
DWU News
Will Kymlicka, Lord Bhikhu Parekh and Amitai Etzioni had dinner with David Blunkett, UK Home
Secretary on May 7th to discuss immigration policies along the Diversity Within Unity line.
Several high ranking civil servants and British intellectuals attended.
Service Plan
In April, President Bush released "Principles and Reforms for a Citizen Service Act." The
reforms suggested include lowering the age for Senior Corps from 60 to 55, removing income
restrictions for some Senior Corps programs, and increasing the percent of college students
who have Federal-Work Study positions in community service to 50 percent. For more information
and a link to the report, visit:
http://www.nationalservice.org/news/pr/040902.html
Catholic Stats
Devout Catholics who believe priests should be allowed to marry: 71%. Children in Parochial
elementary schools: 1.97 million. Spending on social services by Catholic charities: $2.5
billion. (WSJ/NBC New Poll April 2002, Catholic Schools Association, Catholic Charities)
Ads Have Opposite Effect
The government's anti-drug advertising of recent years has failed according to John P. Walters,
the new U.S. drug czar. It may even have led some youngsters to experiment with marijuana.
"This campaign isn't reducing drug use," said Walters. (Wall Street Journal, 5.14.02)
National Youth Service Day
April 26-28, 2002, marked National Youth Service Day. Across the country, youth volunteered in
the community by painting, cleaning, gardening and helping with other projects. Some 4,000 area
young people participated in the event. (Washington Post, 4.26.02 and 4.28.02)
Fish Symposium
What implications, if any, do the September 11 attacks have on the past, present, and future
of postmodern thought? Does being a "postmodernist" or "cultural relativist" mean that you can't
condemn terrorism with any moral authority? These are among the many questions that Richard Rorty,
Benjamin Barber, David Novak, Cass Sunstein, William Galston, and others address in the next issue
of The Responsive Community when they respond to Stanley Fish's essay, "Blaming Postmodernism";
Fish presents a rejoinder. Subscribe to The Responsive Community now by visiting:
http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps/rcqor call us at (800) 245-7460.
American Duty?
During a conference at Princeton University, Professor Herman Bellz of the University of Maryland
pointed out that the Declaration of Independence refers to numerous rights but only one duty. But
when he listed it--it turned out to be another right. The "duty" to overthrow an authoritarian
government, i.e. the right to rebel.
Individualism Journal
The Hedgehog Review published a special issue on individualism. It included essays by Patrick J.
Deneen, Nina Eliasoph, and Amitai Etzioni and an interview with Nancy L. Rosenblum. For more
information, see www.virginia.edu/iasc/hedgehog.html
Diversity Within Unity Endorsers
Our Diversity Within Unity position paper has been sent out for endorsement around the world to
opinion-makers and government officials and has been getting tremendous response. The following
are Members of Parliament from around the world who have endorsed: Fauzaya Talhaoui - Belgium,
John Godfrey - Canada, Andrea Fischer - Germany, Oussama Cherribi - Netherlands, Lord Bhikhu Parekh
- UK (House of Lords). More than 100 people from 18 different nations have endorsed so far. Read
it for yourself at: http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps/DWU.html
Peace Corps Infusion
Three months after the President called on American's to contribute 4,000 hours to neighbors
and nation, the Peace Corps reported that interest in its program has remained high, with
applications up 40 percent and Web traffic double what it was last year. For more information,
see http://www.peacecorps.gov
Summer Courses
The Practical Ethics Center at The University of Montana-Missoula is offering six summer courses
for ethics students and professionals. Registration forms, course descriptions, preliminary
syllabi, faculty information, and travel information can be downloaded directly from their website,
www.umt.edu/ethics
Welcome new endorsers!
Join other communitarians who have read and endorsed our platform. Go to our web site:
http://www.communitariannetwork.org Recent endorsers include Tristin Hassell (Clio, MI), Dr.
Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen (Hull, UK), and Gunnar Green (Copenhagen, Denmark).
Publications of Interest
Alternative Conceptions of Civil Society edited by Simone Chambers and Will Kymlicka (Princeton
University Press, 2002) -- This book considers how a host of ethical traditions define civil society:
libertarianism, critical theory, feminism, liberal egalitarianism, natural law, Christianity, Islam,
Judaism, and Confucianism. http://pup.princeton.edu/titles/7212.html
"Sizing Things Up: What Parents, Teachers and Students Think About Large and Small High Schools"
a report from Public Agenda -- An in-depth, nonpartisan survey of 920 high school teachers nationwide
regarding their personal experiences teaching in large or small high schools.
http://www.publicagenda.org/specials/smallschools/smallschools.htm
Loose Connections: Joining Together in America's Fragmented Communities by Robert Wuthnow
(Harvard University Press, 1998) -- While certain kinds of civic engagement may be declining,
innovative new forms are taking their place. Wuthnow examines the challenges that must be faced
if these innovative forms of civic involvement are to flourish.
http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/WUTLOO.html
Civic Innovation in America: Community Empowerment, Public Policy and the Movement for Civic Renewal
by Carmen Sirianni and Lewis Friedland (University of California Press, 2001) -- The first scholarly
analysis of the civic renewal movement that has emerged in the United States in recent decades.
http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9168.html
Civic Literacy: How Informed Citizens Make Democracy Work by Henry Milner (University Press of New
England, 2002) Marshals a wealth of comparative data to show how civic literacy - the knowledge and
capacity of citizens to make sense of their political world - underpins effective democracies.
http://www.dartmouth.edu/acad-inst/upne/1-58465-172-5.html
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