{"product_id":"the-punitive-imagination-austin-sarat-9780817357993","title":"The Punitive Imagination: Law, Justice, and Responsibility","description":"\u003cb\u003ePresents a thought-provoking collection of five essays that explore the purposes and meanings of legal punishment in the United States, both culturally and socially\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e From the Gospel of Matthew to numerous US Supreme Court justices, many literary and legal sources have observed that how a society metes out punishment reveals core truths about its character. \u003ci\u003eThe Punitive Imagination\u003c\/i\u003e is a collection of essays that engages and contributes to debates about the purposes and meanings of punishment in the United States. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Punitive Imagination\u003c\/i\u003e examines some of the critical assumptions that frame America's approach to punishment. It explores questions such as: \u003cbr\u003e - What is the place of concern for human dignity in our prevailing ideologies of punishment? \u003cbr\u003e - Can we justly punish the socially disadvantaged? \u003cbr\u003e - What assumptions about persons, social institutions, and the ordering of social space provide the basis for American punitiveness? \u003cbr\u003e - Who, if anyone, can be held responsible for excessively punitive criminal sentences? \u003cbr\u003e - How does punishment depend on prevailing views of free will, responsibility, desert, blameworthiness? \u003cbr\u003e - Where\/how are those views subject to challenge in our punitive practices? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e As Sarat posits in his introduction, the way a society punishes demonstrates its commitment to standards of judgment and justice, its distinctive views of blame and responsibility, its understandings of mercy and forgiveness, and its particular ways of responding to evil. He goes on to discuss the history of punishment in the United States and what it reveals about assumptions made about persons that \"undergird\" the American system of punishment. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The five additional contributors to \u003ci\u003eThe Punitive Imagination\u003c\/i\u003e seek to illuminate what American practices of punishment tell us about who we are as a nation. Synthesizing cultural, sociological, philosophical, and legal perspectives, they offer a distinctive take on the meaning of punishment in America.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Austin Sarat\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0817357998\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780817357993\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University Alabama Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/15\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 200\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.80d","brand":"Austin Sarat","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48438021652735,"sku":"9780817357993","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_19d5d522-bc01-4428-97e9-58008020b783.jpg?v=1777168266","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-punitive-imagination-austin-sarat-9780817357993","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}