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"Since the 1960s, ideas developed during the civil rights movement have been astonishingly successful in fighting overt discrimina­tion and prejudice. But how successful are they at combating the whole spectrum of social injustice--including conditions that aren't directly caused by bigotry? How do they stand up to segregation, for instance--a legacy of racism, but not the direct result of ongoing discrimina­tion? It's tempting to believe that civil rights litigation can combat these social ills as efficiently as it has fought blatant discrimination. In Rights Gone Wrong, Richard Thompson Ford, author of the New York Times Notable Book The Race Card, argues that this is seldom the case. Civil rights do too much and not enough: opportunists use them to get a competitive edge in schools and job markets, while special-interest groups use them to demand special privileges. Extremists on both the left and the right have hijacked civil rights for personal advantage. Worst of all, their theatrics have drawn attention away from more seri­ous social injustices...

The idea of universal rights--rights shared by all, regardless of nationality, creed, wealth, or geography--has a powerful grip on the way many people feel about justice and global politics. No one should be subjected to torture or disappearance, to starvation or sex trafficking, to economic exploitation or biased treatment under the law. But when it comes to actually enforcing these rights, the results rarely resemble the ideal. In this bold new book, legal expert Richard Thompson Ford reveals how attempts to apply "universal" human rights principles to specific cultures can hinder humanitarian causes and sometimes even worsen conditions for citizens. Ford explores cases ranging from food distribution to the poor in India to sex work in Japan, illustrating how a rights-based approach to these problems often impedes more effective pragmatic measures. The bad news is that improving lives worldwide isn't as easy as making a declaration. But the good news, as Ford demonstrates, is that if we are clear-eyed and culturally aware, it can be done.--From publisher description

What is black culture? Does it have an essence? What do we lose and gain by assuming that it does, and by building our laws accordingly? This bold and provocative book questions the common presumption of political multiculturalism that social categories such as race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality are defined by distinctive cultural practices. Richard Ford argues against law reform proposals that would attempt to apply civil rights protections to "cultural difference." Unlike many criticisms of multiculturalism, which worry about "reverse discrimination" or the erosion of core Western cult

What is black culture? Does it have an essence? What do we lose and gain by assuming that it does, and by building our laws accordingly? This bold and provocative book questions the common presumption of political multiculturalism that social categories such as race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality are defined by distinctive cultural practices. Richard Ford argues against law reform proposals that would attempt to apply civil rights protections to "cultural difference." Unlike many criticisms of multiculturalism, which worry about "reverse discrimination" or the erosion of core Western cultural values, the book's argument is primarily focused on the adverse effects of multicultural rhetoric and multicultural rights on their supposed beneficiaries. Ford argues that multicultural accounts of cultural difference do not accurately describe the practices of social groups. Instead these accounts are prescriptive: they attempt to canonize a narrow, parochial, and contestable set of ideas about appropriate group culture and to discredit more cosmopolitan lifestyles, commitments, and values. --From publisher's description

Globalization & subnational disintegration are both indicative of the changing role for the nation-state in societal organization. Globalization undermines the nation-state's ability to make & enforce laws & policy, & complicates its culture. Global institutions now expand their authority at the expense of the nation-state, eg, the North American Free Trade Agreement. Global cities such as Hong Kong & New York display the exaggerated effects of globalization & are often in conflict with the nation-state & its citizens due to the coverage/non-coverage of citizenship law. Within this situation, regional & ethnic autonomy movements can draw power from global cultural & economic ties. Proposals for city-states to influence global activity are advanced, including allowing localities to lobby international organizations, foreign nationals to obtain local citizenship, & nondomiciliary voting in the localities. 26 References. M. Pflum