Catholic Social Teaching and Distributism: Toward a New Economy by Michael Hickey Hamilton Books, 2017; 166 pages, $19.99 Of Labour and Liberty: Distributism in Victoria, 1891-1966 by Race Mathews University of Notre Dame Press, 2018; 422 pages, $50.00 An Economics of Justice & Charity: Catholic Social Teaching, Its Development and Contemporary Relevance by Thomas Storck […]
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The Political Theory of the American Founding Natural Rights, Public Policy, and the Moral Conditions of Freedom Thomas G. West Cambridge University Press, 2017; 428 pages, £26.99 I begin with praise for Professor West’s treatment of family questions in his book, The Political Theory of the American Founding. As he notes, there is a curious […]
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The ‘Conscience of Europe?’ Navigating Shifting Tides at the European Court of Human Rights Robert Clarke, Ed. Kairos Publishing, 2017; 240 pages, £17.97 (As Dr. Portaru is one of the authors whose work is contained in this volume, this essay is meant as a presentation of the book, rather than a formal review.) The European […]
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Childlessness in Europe: Contexts, Causes, and Consequences Michaela Kreyenfeld and Dirk Konietzka, eds. SpringerOpen, 2017; 370 pages, open access eBook In his brilliant 1932 dystopian novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley anticipated a future in which the word mother has become an “obscenity,” “a pornographic impropriety.” If Huxley were alive today, he would find compelling […]
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How Population Change Will Transform Our World Sarah Harper Oxford University Press, 2016; 160 pages, $24.95 Throughout the last 40-plus years of the no-fault divorce revolution, observers have noticed a phenomenon aptly labeled “divorce happy talk.” This is an attempt by adults to overcome the initial distress we might feel about the spike in divorces, […]
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The Turning: Why the State of the Family Matters, and What the World Can Do About It Richard and Linda Eyre Familius, 2014; 339 pages, $18.95 Sociologists, political scientists, ethical philosophers, demographers, psychologists, public-policy experts—these are the credentialed authorities loudly proffering their services as guides to a world confused about family life in the twenty-first […]
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Family Politics: Domestic Life, Devastation and Survival, 1900-1950 Paul Ginsborg Yale University Press, 2014; 444 pages, $35.00 Narratives of modern Europe, argues history professor Paul Ginsborg of the University of Florence, have commonly left families “off stage,” “hidden from history.” In Family Politics, he seeks to insert the story of the European family during the […]
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Sexuality and Gender: Findings from the Biological, Psychological, and Social Sciences Lawrence S. Mayer & Paul R. McHugh The New Atlantis, Fall 2016 Lawrence Mayer and Paul McHugh, authors of the new special report Sexuality and Gender: Findings from the Biological, Psychological, and Social Sciences published earlier this year by The New Atlantis, close their […]
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Defenders of the Unborn: The Pro-Life Movement Before Roe v. Wade Daniel K. Williams Oxford University Press, 2016; 400 pages, $29.95 This summer, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas law requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges to a nearby hospital and abortion centers to meet the minimum legal standards for an outpatient surgical […]
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Independent Global Index on Family: Report 2016 on the Right of Family in the World Luca Volontè, Francesca Maccioni, Giovanna Rossi, Maria Letizia Bosoni, and Vera Lomazzi Novae Terrae Foundation and the Family Studies and Research University Centre of the Catholic University of Milan, July 2016 Where in the world is the best place to […]
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