Making All the Difference: Inclusion, Exclusion, and American Law [Paperback]

Martha Minow (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Cornell Univ Pr (September 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801499771
• ISBN-13: 978-0801499777
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,372 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent review of the literature and well-told stories, July 7, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Hollywood, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Making All the Difference: Inclusion, Exclusion, and American Law (Paperback)

Minow gives a well-balanced overview of the problem of being different and how we tend to define "difference" as something inherent in others. She offers solid suggestions for overcoming the unstated assumptions we make that harm those whom we see as different. Her references are well-documented, and cover a broad spectrum of political perceptions.

Minow recognizes that the same unstated assumptions that affect our views of the "different" also affect the inflexibility of our legal system. Her explanations are both clear and cogent.

The work is strengthened by practical illustrations and by the realization that sometimes we work in less than ideal situations, with what we have. Well written and very "read"able. One of my favorites.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Dilemma of Difference, January 3, 2006

By 

Panayotis ZAMAROS (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Making All the Difference: Inclusion, Exclusion, and American Law (Paperback)

For Martha Minow the "difference dilemma" is the social condition, social paradigm, and set of social events - in particular those in relation with the law, that remove all possibility to consider and provide a `choice between integration and separation' (pp. 20-21). This is when it becomes either (politically) unfeasible, or (financially) impracticable, or even (legally) impossible to treat people as other, as different without making them carry the stigma of difference and exclusion, and consider people as same without becoming insensitive and indifferent to their otherness, needs and idiosyncrasies.

To reduce the effects of the dilemma and to suggest first solutions, Minow advocates a shift in the paradigm used to describe "difference": `from a focus on the distinctions between people to a focus on the relationships within which we notice and draw distinctions' (p. 15). This is because the "difference dilemma" has grown from the way society has constructed categories and decided on this basis whom to include and whom to exclude.

To achieve her purpose, with an emphasis on the law and legal practice in the US, Minow divides her book into three parts.

Part 1 deals with the dilemma as such. Minow gives in chapter 1 detailed explanations and legal examples in education (bilingual and special) that illustrate well the "difference dilemma". Chapter 2 is concerned with examining the forces (i.e. assumptions) that render the "difference dilemma" intractable. These sources of difference include considering that "difference" is intrinsic, adopting an unstated point of reference and comparison, treating the other as having no perspective, considering the other perspectives as irrelevant, and considering that the social and economic arrangements are natural and neutral. Minow offers some ways out in chapter 3 around the idea that "difference" is not inherent but rather a feature of a comparison drawn between people.

Part 2 looks into the historical aspects and the evolution in social and legal thought that has brought about and consolidated the dilemma in contemporary legal practice. Chapter 4 presents three contrasting approaches to "difference". The first assumes that "difference" is inherent hence the need for special legal treatment; the second, in guaranteeing equal rights, constructs a category of sameness (i.e. those whose equality of rights is guaranteed) different from those who are not the same; with the third, "difference" is a function of social relationships and knowledge. Chapter 5 critically examines the persistence of the abnormal-persons and rights approaches; the latter is further expanded in chapter 6 around the idea that `commitment to provide the same treatment to all' strengthens `institutional arrangements that deny special accommodations.' (p. 146) This critique leads to the adoption of a relational view of the social domain, which is reviewed in chapter 7.

Part 3 places emphasis on the question of rights from a social-relations approach. But before putting this approach to work with examples, Minow seeks to address in chapter 8 three problems associated with this approach, namely, its enactment, its comprehension, and its risks. Chapter 9 then deals with rights and relations in families and chapter 10 examines the medical sector. The concluding chapter 11 explores relational strategies in the political domain.

This is a well written and well researched book that other difference-minded law practitioners and academics may want to take inspiration from for additional study and investigation into possible ways to solve the "difference dilemma", and to constitute an international library concerned with making a "difference" in this world.