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E-book
Author Colker, Ruth

Title American Law in the Age of Hypercapitalism : the Worker, the Family, and the State
Published New York : NYU Press, 1998

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Description 1 online resource (270 pages)
Series Critical America ; 81
Contents Preface; 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
Summary 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
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes English
Print version record
Subject 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.
LAW -- General.
Capitalism
Critical legal studies
Discrimination in employment -- Law and legislation
Labor laws and legislation
Law and economics
Sociological jurisprudence
United States
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780814790175
0814790178
0585346771
9780585346779