1.

Record Nr.

UNISA996582052803316

Autore

Colker Ruth

Titolo

American law in the age of hypercapitalism : the worker, the family, and the state / / Ruth Colker

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, NY : , : New York University Press, , [1998]

©1998

ISBN

0-8147-9017-8

0-585-34677-1

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (270 p.)

Collana

Critical America ; ; 81

Disciplina

349.73

Soggetti

Sociological jurisprudence

Law and economics

Capitalism - United States

Critical legal studies - United States

Discrimination in employment - Law and legislation - United States

Labor laws and legislation - United States

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Includes index.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- 1. THE TATTERED SAFETY NET -- 2. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION -- 3. DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION -- 4. FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE -- 5. SEXUAL ORIENTATION DISCRIMINATION -- 6. UNPROTECTED WORKERS -- 7. MEDINA'S STORY -- NOTES -- INDEX -- ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sommario/riassunto

Since the fall of communism, laissez-faire capitalism has experienced renewed popularity. Flush with victory, the United States has embraced a particularly narrow and single-minded definition of capitalism and aggressively exported it worldwide. The defining trait of this brand of capitalism is an unwavering reverence for the icons of the market. Although promoted as a laissez-faire form of capitalism, it actually reflects the very evils of selfishness and greed by entrepreneurs that concerned Adam Smith. Capitalism, however, can thrive without an extreme emphasis on efficiency and personal autonomy. Americans often forget that theirs is a rather peculiar form of capitalism, that other Western nations successfully maintain capitalistic systems that



are fundamentally more balanced and nuanced in their effect on society. The unnecessarily inhumane aspects of American capitalism become apparent when compared to Canadian and Western European societies, with their more generous policies regarding affirmative action, accommodation for disabled persons, and family and medical leave for pregnant woman and their partners. In American Law in the Age of Hypercapitalism, Ruth Colker examines how American law purports to reflect--and actively promotes--a laissez-faire capitalism that disproportionately benefits the entrepreneurial class. Colker proposes that the quality of American life depends also on fairness and equality rather than simply the single-minded and formulaic pursuit of efficiency and utility.