Civil Rights in America
A History
Published on 17. December 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
226 pages
978-1-108-44497-2 (ISBN)
Description
The term 'civil rights' has such a familiar presence in discussions about American politics and law that we tend to use it reflexively and intuitively, but rarely do we stop to think about what exactly we mean when we use the term and why certain uses strike us as right or wrong. In this book, Professor Christopher W. Schmidt tells the story of how Americans have fought over the meaning of civil rights from the Civil War through today. Through their struggles over what it means to live in a nation dedicated to protecting civil rights, each generation has given the label new life and new meaning. Civil Rights in America shows how the words we use to understand our world become objects of contestation and points of leverage for social, political, and legal action.
Reviews / Votes
'Schmidt provides a sweeping view of the history of civil rights in America that few other books can match.' Adam Lee Cilli, Journal of Southern HistoryMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
308 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-108-44497-2 (9781108444972)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
12/2020
Cambridge University Press
€129.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
E-Book
12/2020
Cambridge University Press
€28.99
Available for download
Person
Christopher W. Schmidt is a professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he serves as the Associate Dean for Faculty Development and co-director of the Institute on the Supreme Court of the United States, a Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation, and the editor of Law & Social Inquiry. Professor Schmidt received his Ph.D. in American Studies from Harvard University and his J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is the author of The Sit-Ins: Protest and Legal Change in the Civil Rights Era (2018).
Content
Introduction; 1. The birth of civil rights - reconstruction; 2. The transformation of civil rights - the Jim Crow years; 3. Civil rights reborn - the 1940s and 1950s; 4. Beyond civil rights - the 1960s; 5. Getting right with the civil rights movement; 6. Civil rights everywhere; Conclusion.