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Freedom Book of the Month
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Free-Market.Net's F r e e d o m B o o k o f t h e M o n t h
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Edited by Thomas L. Knapp. To subscribe or unsubscribe to this and
other lists, click to: http://www.free-market.net/features/lists/
DOUBLE FEATURE
* March, 2002: "Liberty for Women," edited by Wendy McElroy
* April, 2002: "Toward Liberty," edited by David Boaz
* Passing the Baton: an announcement
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Freedom Book of the Month for March, 2002:
"Liberty for Women: Freedom and Feminism in the Twenty-First Century"
Edited by Wendy McElroy
Ivan R. Dee and the Independent Institute 2002, paperback, 353 pp.
A decade ago, feminism was firmly in the grip of the collectivist left and its individualist, pro-freedom wing was engaged in a struggle for survival. Over the last ten years, however, "ifeminism" has become a strong voice in the women's (and men's) movement, challenging gender feminism's claim on the moral high ground and even the very history of the feminist movement.
Much of ifeminism's success has been due to the unending work of Wendy McElroy, and nowhere is the effect of that work more evident than in "Liberty for Women." The 18 essays which make up the book are a testament to the current and coming successes of individualists to reclaim feminism as the expression of freedom
that it was always intended to be.
The book is divided into six sections. The first deals with foundational aspects of ifeminism, and the other four with women and (respectively) sex, family, work, violence and technology.
The authors, including ACLU president Nadine Strossen, feminist icon Camille Paglia, Ayn Rand scholar Mimi Gladstein and others, squarely face such issues as pornography, abortion (including the impact of new reproductive technologies), prostitution, victim disarmament ("gun control") and affirmative action. Each essay offers thoughtful, if not always dispositive, commentary from an uncompromisingly feminist, *and* uncompromisingly libertarian, perspective.
Whether the reader is seeking an introduction to ifeminism or a deeper understanding of its tenets, "Liberty for Women" is the book we've been waiting for. While ifeminists, incuding McElroy, Joan Kennedy Taylor (whose work is also present here) and others have produced numerous volumes on specific issues, this is the first notable anthology since 1999's "Feminist Interpretations of
Ayn Rand" to collect a diversity of ifeminist thought between two covers.
"Liberty for Women" is as much celebration as it is exegesis: a long-overdue celebration of liberty's ascendancy in the world of feminism and vice versa.
Order "Liberty for Women" from Laissez Faire Books for $14.95:
http://www.free-market.net/rd/936385652.html
Visit ifeminists.com, Free-Market.Net's ifeminist channel, hosted by Wendy McElroy:
http://www.ifeminists.com/
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Freedom Book of the Month for April, 2002:
"Toward Liberty: The Idea That is Changing the World"
Edited by David Boaz
Cato Institute 2002, cloth or paper, 460 pp.
The world was a very different place when the Cato Institute was founded back in 1977. Carter was president, but inflation was king. Smart money was on Soviet Communism as the world political wave of the future, carried on another wave -- a military one. I was ten years old. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then, and Cato is entitled to a large measure of credit for reversing the direction of the river's flow.
"Toward Liberty" is an anthology of articles from Cato's first 25 years. If its table of contents reads like a virtual Who's Who in libertarian thought, that's no accident. The book's list of contributors includes economist Milton Friedman, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, humorist P.J. O'Rourke, ifeminist Joan
Kennedy Taylor, ACLU president Nadine Strossen, U.S. Representative Dick Armey and 36 others.
Like the Institute behind it, "Toward Liberty" addresses itself to multiple areas of interest ranging from foreign policy to regulation, trade, welfare and law. And it points not only to where we -- and Cato -- have been, but to where we -- and Cato -- are going.
As David Boaz points out in his introduction, the last 25 years have seen a complete reversal of the common wisdom. Market liberalism, while not yet triumphant, is now the odds-on favorite in the continuing clash of political paradigms. Economic regulation, while not completely disposed of, is thoroughly discredited. Globalization and trade, while not fully implemented, are rapidly
replacing polarization and war as the instruments of foreign policy. And while there are frequent reactions and backlashes, they're just that: the momentum and the initiative are with the forces of freedom.
"Toward Liberty" is a thrilling retrospective on an era and an appropriate celebration of some of the people and ideas that brought that era to a close and ushered in a new dawn.
Happy birthday, Cato.
Order "Toward Liberty" from the Cato Institute ($19.95 cloth, $10.95 paperback):
http://www.free-market.net/rd/833058604.html
Visit the Cato Institute:
http://www.cato.org/
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Passing the Baton: An Announcement
Dear Friends,
For more than three years, I've edited Freedom Book of the Month. Throughout that time, I've enjoyed your company and support. Writing this monthly review has been one of the most enjoyable experiences of my career (and it's done wonders for my personal library).
Now, it's time to move on. Freedom Book of the Month isn't going away -- quite the opposite in fact. I believe you'll continue to enjoy the review for years to come. However, it will no longer be written by me.
Why? Well, I'm a wanderer. I first came to Free-Market.Com as the creator and editor of our Freedom Home Page of the Week program, and I've since created and written Freedom Book of the Month and Freedom Action of the Week. Betwixt and between those jobs, which I've loved doing, I've gone from part-time volunteer to full-time Managing Editor and Director of Partner Services here at Free-Market.Net and embarked on a number of other projects here and elsewhere. I hope that in the near future, I'll be able to create another worthwhile feature or two for your enjoyment and edification.
I'm not leaving Free-Market.Net. I'll still be the person on the other end of your feedback email messages concerning the Freedom Network. I'll still be working daily as part of the team that produces Freedom News Daily and the other features that have become part of all our lives over the last six years. I'll still be serving our partner organizations as they spread the message of liberty around the globe.
But as for Freedom Book of the Month, I'm passing that baton to Sunni Maravillosa. You read Sunni's guest review of Aaron Zelman and L. Neil Smith's "Hope" last August, and many of you know her from her activity over on ifeminists.com and elsewhere. She's a fine writer and a perceptive critic. You've seen the quality of her work, and if I'm a little sad to leave this feature behind, I have no doubt as to the quality of the hands I'm leaving it in.
It's been a great voyage, friends, and I hope you've found it half as rewarding as I have. Thank you, once again, for the support you've given Freedom Book of the Month and Free-Market.Net and especially for the atmosphere of comradeship that I've enjoyed as your editor.
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
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