The Communitarian Update
Number 55
July 11, 2003
Tell us what you think!
What is a communitarian position on gay marriage? Marriage is not merely a two-person affair; it
involves a couple coming before a community to make a commitment in terms of the
community’s values. Gay couples could do the same. But is there a way to extend to gay couples
the same rights as heterosexual married couples while respecting the values of the millions of
people who oppose gay marriage? Could a community ask gays to accept 97% of the benefits
entailed by marriage–to have same rights of inheritance, visitation, Social Security benefits,
etc.–but call that institutionalized relationship a “civil union” rather than “marriage?” For a
beginning discussion of this issue see http://www.amitai-notes.com/blog/.
Please respond briefly and tell us how to identify you. We do not run anonymous responses
because we hold that true identities make for better dialogues. Please also provide some details,
if not your affiliation, at least your town and nation, to help us understand your perspective.
Discussion of My Brother’s Keeper on C-Span 2
Saturday, July 12, 10:00-11:00 p.m. EST
Hear Amitai Etzioni discuss his memoir, My Brother’s Keeper: A Memoir and a Message. A question and answer session follows the discussion.
Gallup Poll: Race Relations Getting Better
According to a new poll, Americans hold an overall positive view of the state of relations
between major ethnic and racial groups in the U.S. White-Asian relations were viewed most
positively, black-Hispanic relations least positively (Gallup Organization, 6/30/03). For full poll
results and analysis see http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr030630.asp.
Publications of Interest
The Cost of a Volunteer: What it Takes to Provide a Quality Volunteer Experience (The
Grantmaker Forum on Community & National Service, March ‘03)
-Summarizes findings from interviews with 21 nonprofit organizations that run high quality
volunteer programs around the country. Interviews addressed the question of what it “costs” to
run an effective and high quality volunteer program. Also includes program profiles for each
participating nonprofit. Report available at http://www.gfcns.org/gfcns/publications/index.html.
The Best Things in Life Aren’t Things: Celebrating What Matters Most by Joann Davis (Boston:
Beacon Press, ‘03)
- Included essays explore how to experience life as “a spiritual exercise rooted in virtue,
principle, experience, faith, community, and heartfelt emotion.”Available at
http://www.beacon.org/sp03cat/davis.html.
“Security and justice, mutuality and individual rights” by David Blunkett
-A speech by UK Home Secretary David Blunkett. With the events of 9/11 in the background,
argues that security and freedom not only must be balanced, but can be mutually reinforcing.
Read speech at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs/johnjayspeech.html.
Articles of Interest
“Literacy is Everything” by William Z. Lidicker, Jr., The Humanist, January/February ‘03
-Argues that literacy--especially basic scientific literacy--is a critical requirement for the
continued flourishing of democratic societies.
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New Issue of The Responsive Community!
(Free sample issues available)
Volume 13, Issue 3, Summer 2003
UP FRONT
The Freedom to Infect? SARS and Common Sense — Nicholas D. Kristof
The Resilience of Regional Identity: Misunderstanding McDonaldization — Jeet Heer and Steve
Penfold
ESSAYS
Should Children Have First Amendment Rights?
Kevin W. Saunders
How can we protect children from harmful speech without abridging adults’ rights?
The Costs of Citizenship: Assimilation v. Multiculturalism in Liberal Democracies
Alan Wolfe
A sociological review of recent literature on multiculturalism finds that assimilation isn’t as bad
as some suggest.
When Corporate Media Giants Call the Shots: How New Rules from the FCC Will Squeeze Out
Community
Sasha Polakow-Suransky
The Federal Communications Commission recently passed rules that will allow media giants to swallow up more locally-owned TV stations and newspapers. Cable channels and the Internet may ensure diverse programming, but are the interests of community being buried?
Reviving the Ideal of Citizenship
Senator John Kerry
Is the senator a closet communitarian?
Virtue, Self-Interest, and the Good: A Dialogue on Communitarianism and Classical Liberalism
Amitai Etzioni and Jonathan Marks
Do communitarians have more in common with classical liberals than with contemporary
liberals?
THE COMMUNITY BOOKSHELF
We Are All Pluralists Now — Adam Swift
Review of William A. Galston’s Liberal Pluralism: The Implications of Value Pluralism for
Political Theory and Practice
Reviving Liberalism, Respecting Local Context — Donald K. Emmerson
Review of Daniel A. Bell’s East Meets West: Human Rights and Democracy in East Asia and
Fareed Zakaria’s The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad
The Social Construction of Tax Policy — Richard M. Coughlin
Review of Liam Murphy and Thomas Nagel’s The Myth of Ownership: Taxes and Justice
The Community’s Pulse
Research Note
Engaging Our Youth: Promoting Positive Citizenship — Jonathan Zaff
Libertarians, Authoritarians, Communitarians
Commentary — Steven Lukes, Andrew Mason
For more information about The Responsive Community, visit www.communitariannetwork.org.
To receive a FREE sample issue, please e-mail your mailing address to comnet@gwu.edu or call
either 800-245-7460 or 202-994-4355. Same to subscribe. Ordering information is also available
online at http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps/rcq/rcq_order.html.
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Endorse the Communitarian Platform!
Join other communitarians who have read and endorsed our platform. Visit our web site:
http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps/rcplatform.html.
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