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The Mandate of Dignity

Drucilla Cornell and Nick Friedman discuss their new book, The Mandate of Dignity: Ronald Dworkin, Revolutionary Constitutionalism, and the Claims of Justice. They will be joined in conversation by: Roger Berkowitz of Bard College, Farah Jan of Rutgers University, Peter Rosenblum of Bard College, David Straszheim of Rutgers University, Jeremy Waldron of New York University School of Law, Sarah Weirich of Rutgers University, and Jinny Prais of Columbia University.

Synopsis: Beginning with a critical overview of Dworkin’s work culminating in his two principles of dignity, Cornell and Friedman turn to Kant and Hegel for an approach better able to ground the principles of dignity Dworkin advocates. Framed thus, Dworkin’s challenge to legal positivism enables a theory of constitutional revolution in which existing legal structures are transformatively revalued according to ethical mandates. By founding law on dignity, Dworkin begins to articulate an ethical jurisprudence responsive to the lived experience of injustice. This book, then, articulates a revolutionary constitutionalism crucial to the struggle for decolonization.

Drucilla Cornell is Professor of Political Science, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Comparative Literature at Rutgers University.

Nick Friedman is a doctoral candidate in legal theory at Oxford University.











When: Mon., Feb. 29, 2016 at 7:00 pm
Where: Book Culture
536 W. 112th St.
212-865-1588
Price: Free
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Drucilla Cornell and Nick Friedman discuss their new book, The Mandate of Dignity: Ronald Dworkin, Revolutionary Constitutionalism, and the Claims of Justice. They will be joined in conversation by: Roger Berkowitz of Bard College, Farah Jan of Rutgers University, Peter Rosenblum of Bard College, David Straszheim of Rutgers University, Jeremy Waldron of New York University School of Law, Sarah Weirich of Rutgers University, and Jinny Prais of Columbia University.

Synopsis: Beginning with a critical overview of Dworkin’s work culminating in his two principles of dignity, Cornell and Friedman turn to Kant and Hegel for an approach better able to ground the principles of dignity Dworkin advocates. Framed thus, Dworkin’s challenge to legal positivism enables a theory of constitutional revolution in which existing legal structures are transformatively revalued according to ethical mandates. By founding law on dignity, Dworkin begins to articulate an ethical jurisprudence responsive to the lived experience of injustice. This book, then, articulates a revolutionary constitutionalism crucial to the struggle for decolonization.

Drucilla Cornell is Professor of Political Science, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Comparative Literature at Rutgers University.

Nick Friedman is a doctoral candidate in legal theory at Oxford University.

Buy tickets/get more info now