Before the Shooting Begins
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
Addressing America's cultural conflict about such issues as abortion, homosexuality, and family values, the author presents a plan in which America can achieve a renewed democracy, despite these differences.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hunter follows up his 1991 book Culture Wars with this extended case study of the seemingly intractable abortion controversy, astutely probing the shortcomings in the current discourse. He carefully lays out the rhetorical distortions of activists on both sides and points out unarticulated interests like the unwillingness of ``pro-lifers'' to question the concept of ``traditional family.'' Analyzing interviews and survey data, he suggests that most Americans are ignorant of actual abortion regulations, which leads to a politics of emotion. He criticizes the superficiality of press coverage in probing the implications of the controversy, conservatives and progressives alike who misrepresent the historical and legal record, and he warns that multicultural education may reinforce a ``culture of emotivism.'' Hunter's solution, however--``an enlarged and deepened debate,'' beginning in local and regional forums--deserves a more thorough exposition.
Customer Reviews
A model of good scholarship
This book is a worthy follow up to Hunter’s 1991 work “Culture Wars,” which is also worth a read. Though you can read this on its own, you should read Culture Wars anyways because that book is a classic. In Before the Shooting Begins, Hunter takes the ideas developed in “Culture Wars” and applies them to the abortion debate. While “Culture Wars” went for breadth, this book goes for depth, exposing the rhetoric of Pro Life and Pro Choice, differing moral commitments, and its relationship to democracy. What is incredible is how relevant this book is, especially post roe. It is well researched, with plenty of social theory, surveys, and research statistics as well.
Most impressive is how unbiased Hunter is. He spends time criticizing pro lifers and pro choices for unhelpful rhetoric. At the end of the book, I still had no idea where he stood on abortion and what he thought about it.