Birth as an American rite of passage

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Rupa Mehta

The author challenges us to start a "word detox", lose the weight of words, and connect to the "one word" that represents our true spirit.

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Margaret Owen

A World of Widows provides a global overview of the status of widowhood. Neglected by social policy researchers, international human rights activists and the women's movement, the status of the world's widows - legal, social, cultural and economic - is an urgent issue given the extent and severity of the discrimination against them. Margaret Owen explores the process of becoming a widow; poverty and social security in the context of widowhood; differing laws and customs regarding widows' inheritance; the situation of widows who remarry and issues of sexuality and health. She also looks at the needs of specific groups of widows - refugees, older widows, child widows - and widowhood in the context of AIDS. Throughout, she shows the prevalence of discrimination against widows in inheritance rights, land ownership, custody of children, security of home and shelter, nutrition and health. The book concludes with a summary of widowhood as a human rights issue and an overview of widows themselves organizing for change.

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Patricia Boling

The growing availability of unprecedented reproductive technologies has raised equally unprecedented moral and political questions, not only for pregnant women but for all those who wish the state to act humanely and wisely in this extraordinarily sensitive arena. In this timely and provocative volume a group of distinguished feminist scholars explore the ethics and the politics of issues such as surrogacy, genetic testing, in utero surgery, genetic intervention, in vitro fertilization, and fetal endangerment. Expecting Trouble is essential reading for scholars and students of women and politics, women and public policy, sexual ethics, and medical ethics.

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Tibor Machan

A serious confusion exists over government's proper role in society. Whatever is considered important has been presumed to be a "public" or government concern. But, what are the proper limits to this "public" sphere? Should government be limited to protecting individual rights, including the right to private property, under a Rule of Law applied uniformly throughout society? Many sincere and intelligent people answer in the negative and propose a broad scope for government, including the regulation of advertising, firearms ownership, drug use, teenage pregnancy, environment, health care, tobacco and alcohol consumption, AIDS research, employment, education, etc. Private Rights and Public Illusions reveals that few problems concern most members of society in any uniform way, and contrary to conventional belief, both "public" and "private" realms are driven by the self-interests of those involved. Social problems have not only persisted despite massive government programs; such bureaucracies have produced even greater problems, undercut the private solutions of civil society, and given license to some individuals to misuse power over others. The erroneous conception of "public" affairs forms the basis for the intrusiveness of government into the peaceful lives of people. Private Rights and Public Illusions clearly charts what the "public" realms should be, not only to redefine government's proper purview and distinguish it from the private realm, but to protect the productivity, spontaneity, and civility uniquely present in private human life.