The Politics of Property, Labour, Freedom and Belonging
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Gutmann concludes that identity groups are intrinsically neither good nor bad for democratic politics. When their presence serves to combat negative stereotypes and provides a vehicle for the effective political engagement and influence of disadvantaged people, identity groups can help facilitate the realization of the ideal of democracy. However, identity can also be employed as a weapon to undermine the pursuit and achievement of democratic justice, as when the Ku Klux Klan or Moral Majority promote intolerance and oppression of certain races and those who embrace alternative lifestyles. Not surprisingly, trying to determine ‘reasonable’ and generally acceptable criteria to distinguish between identity groups that should be encouraged vs those that should be discouraged can be an extremely difficult and, indeed, ugly task. Yet, democratic justice requires that such determinations be made. For Gutmann, the presence of identity groups and their active involvement in democratic politics becomes unacceptably problematic only when such groups assign primacy to the advancement of their own particular interests regardless of whether doing so may impede the pursuit and attainment of socio-political justice and peace. The preceding summary offers only the briefest of overviews of some of Gutmann’s central arguments. Identity in Democracy constitutes a thoughtful and provocative analysis of the relationship between identity groups and democratic justice in contemporary liberal democracies. In an era when the interaction between identity and democracy seems to be increasing both in frequency and importance, Gutmann’s book admirably demonstrates the complicated relationship between the two. Further, though Gutmann is a political theorist by vocation, there is much in this text that will be of interest to scholars and practitioners in a variety of disciplines, including, for example, law and sociology. Not all readers will be persuaded to agree with each of Gutmann’s substantive judgments, but no one will be left without food for thought. Shaun P. Young York University, Canada.
The Politics of Property. Labour, Freedom and Belonging Laura Brace Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2004, viii þ 256pp. ISBN: 0 7486 1535 0. Contemporary Political Theory (2006) 5, 105–108. doi:10.1057/palgrave.cpt.9300220
Laura Brace offers a much needed re-examination of the modern notion of property in this informative and clearly written book. Her main point is that Contemporary Political Theory 2006 5
Book Reviews
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property can only be fully understood through an analysis of class, race and gender relations, which themselves reveal how honour should be affirmed against degradation, righteous labour affirmed against drudgery and belonging affirmed against exclusion all in the name of freedom. These affirmations contribute to the main themes of the book and are explored in various ways through each of the ten chapters. After giving an outline of the issues to be discussed in Chapter One, Brace begins her investigation in the 17t
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