Books by Drucilla Cornell

The vociferous appetite of colonialism and its insatiable devouring of modern life has taken its toll on this world. This book shows that there has even been a colonization of critical theory, fitting it with prejudices that would limit knowledge to analytic reductions commensurate with Western metaphysics.

Engages the work of Clint Eastwood, the actor and director who has progressed from being the stereotypical 'man's man' to pushing the boundaries of the very genres - the Western, the police thriller, the war or boxing movie - most associated with American masculinity.

How can women create a meaningful and joyous life for themselves? Is it enough to be equal with men? In this provocative and wide-ranging book, Drucilla Cornell argues that women should transcend the quest for equality and focus on what she shows is a far more radical project: achieving freedom. Cornell takes us on a highly original exploration of what it would mean for women politically, legally, and culturally, if we took this ideal of freedom seriously--if, in her words, we recognized that "e;hearts starve as well as bodies."e; She takes forceful and sometimes surprising stands on such subjects as abortion, prostitution, pornography, same-sex marriage, international human rights, and the rights and obligations of fathers. She also engages with what it means to be free on a theoretical level, drawing on the ideas of such thinkers as Kant, Rawls, Ronald Dworkin, Hegel, and Lacan. Cornell begins by discussing what she believes lies at the heart of freedom: the ability for all individuals to pursue happiness in their own way, especially in matters of love and sex. This is only possible, she argues, if we protect the "e;imaginary domain"e;--a psychic and moral space in which individuals can explore their own sources of happiness. She writes that equality with men does not offer such protection, in part because men themselves are not fully free. Instead, women must focus on ensuring that individuals face minimal interference from the state and from oppressive cultural norms. They must also respect some controversial individual choices. Cornell argues in favor of permitting same-sex couples to marry and adopt children, for example. She presses for access to abortion and for universal day care. She also justifies lifestyles that have not always been supported by other feminists, ranging from staying at home as a primary caregiver to engaging in prostitution. She argues that men should have similar freedoms--thus returning feminism to its promise that freedom for women would mean freedom for all. Challenging, passionate, and powerfully argued, Cornell's book will have a major impact on the course of feminist thought.

This is the first book to review Ronald Dworkin's entire body of work in its relevance to constitutional dispensations in the Global South.

Before the author's mother died, she asked her daughter, Drucilla, to write a book 'that would bear witness to the dignity of her death [and one that] her bridge class would be able to understand.' As if that wasn't difficult enough, Drucilla's mother, who had a degenerative disease, decided to end her life by ingesting a lethal cocktail of drugs.

The relation between law and revolution is one of the most pressing questions of our time. As one country after another has faced the challenge that comes with the revolutionary overthrow of past dictatorships, how one reconstructs a new government is a burning issue.

The essays collected here examine how the ideals of freedom and equality associated with the democratic revolutions of the West have survived the challenges of 20th century critiques.

A vision of what feminist theory can give contemporary women. It challenges existentialist and naturalist accounts of feminine sexuality, arguing that any attempt to affirm women's value and difference by either emphasizing her maternal role or repudiating the feminine only entraps women.

Drucilla Cornell interweaves the ethical and the political in this unique and profound narrative, focusing on women and dignity.