Two Cultures of Rights : The Quest for Inclusion and Participation in Modern America and Germany

This book addresses key issues in the historical struggle for civil rights, political rights, and social rights in the United States and Germany from the late nineteenth century to the present. The essays address issues such as the struggle for the rights of women and minorities (including African Americans, Jews, and Asians), National Socialism and the dismantling of civil rights, and the emergence of the concept of social rights. What becomes clear are the unique features that distinguish German from American history and that these differences have been created by both social movements and dissimilar cultures of rights.

"...an illuminating and clearly-written collection of essays...This volume should interest scholars across a number of fields, including legal history, political science, and sociology."
- Journal of American Ethnic History

"This collection focuses on selected issues of civil rights in the US and Germany... The individual chapters are thoughtful and well documented. Recommended for graduate, research, and faculty collections."
- Choice

"...the editors and contributors have brought together concerns and empirical findings not ordinarily found in one volume... their consideration of rights and "rights talk" in two different legal and political cultures is an important undertaking..."
- H-German, David Abraham, School of Law, University of Miami