Civic Self-Respect

Details

ISBN-10: 1644212781
ISBN-13: 9781644212783
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Publish Date: 04/08/2025
Dimensions: 8.20" L, 5.50" W, 0.70" H

Civic Self-Respect

byRalph Nader

Paperback

Price: $17.95

Overview

An inspiring exploration of democracy that separates the concept of a citizen into various roles, providing a clarifying mission to all who read this call to action and civic participation.

In this concise volume, Ralph Nader, our trusted voice on corporate power and civic resistance, goes right to the most basic taproots of an aspiring democracy–its people and their roles in creating and sustaining community. These roles, including citizen, voter, worker, taxpayer, consumer, and parent, contribute to civic self-respect, and one’s own significance in society.

As federal judge Learned Hand said in 1944 during a famous brief speech at Central Park, New York City–neither the laws, the courts or other related institutions can be saved without the underlying exercise of the democratic spirit by the people. Civic Self Respect argues the importantace to recognize the centrality in the development of a civic personality, as distinguished from a private personality with the two co-existing for a moral life participating in the common good. As Nader’s mother said when her friends would wonder how she could be raising four children and still have so much time for community engagements: “What’s the difference?” One depends on each other–the family and the community.

This book argues for how important it is for our educational system to teach the essentials of civic responsibility beyond its occupational or technical emphasis, because the emergence of such a public-minded personality is so essential for understanding the world and shaping civil societies.

  • Named by The Atlantic as one of the hundred most influential figures in American history, and by Time and Life magazines as one of the most influential Americans of the twentieth century, Ralph Nader has helped us drive safer cars, eat healthier food, breathe better air, drink cleaner water, and work in safer environments for more than four decades.

    The iconic champion of consumer rights first made headlines in 1965 with his pioneering bestseller Unsafe at Any Speed, a devastating indictment that lambasted the auto industry for producing unsafe vehicles. The book led to congressional hearings and automobile safety laws passed in 1966, including the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.

    Nader was instrumental in the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC), and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA). Many lives have been saved by Nader's involvement in the recall of millions of unsafe consumer products, including defective motor vehicles, and in the protection of laborers and the environment. By starting dozens of citizen groups, Ralph Nader has created an atmosphere of corporate and governmental accountability.

    Nader's recent books include Breaking Through Power with City Lights, Unstoppable, and The Good Fight. His Animal Envy, A Parable was published by Seven Stories Press in the fall of 2016. Nader writes a syndicated column, has his own radio show, and gives lectures and interviews year round.
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Reviews
"Ralph Nader has been fighting against corporate domination and for the empowerment and protection of civil society for decades. He issues in Civic Self-Respect a clarion call for all of us to be engaged citizens, to refuse to be passive bystanders, and to take seriously our responsibilities in a democratic society. The consequences of abrogating these responsibilities, of not recognizing that political and civic participation is vital to the health of our society, he warns, is ominous. Ralph is one of the prophetic voices of our age and we ignore his wisdom at our peril." –Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author

​"In Civic Self-Respect​, Ralph Nader encourages us, as he has for more than a half-century, to think broadly about our roles and capabilities as citizens and shows what it means to act accordingly.​ The perspective he offers is more important than ever, as decades of unchecked corporate power and bipartisan neoliberal politics have worn down and suppressed capacities for expression of active civic engagement with the effect of spreading alienation, cynicism, and desperation. A result of such a demoralized environment, as we also can see clearly, is spreading vulnerability to the siren's song of authoritarianism. Nader's clear voice can help us to counter that temptation.​" –Adolph Reed Jr., Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania

"Rooted in more than half a century of successful advocacy, Ralph Nader's Civic Self-Respect charts paths to action in our lives as workers, family members, and engaged citizens. Full of success stories and hard-won advice, this empowering book will inspire readers to practice their civic skills and make the changes we desperately need." –Aric McBay, author of Full Spectrum Resistance and Kraken Calling

"With the deepest concern for the fate of our country and future generations, Ralph Nader presents an indispensable guide to understanding our rights, our responsibilities and the rules of law. In Civic Self-Respect we are given tools to develop our civic personality, turn knowledge into action and prove that the people have the power." –Patti Smith

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Details

ISBN-10: 1644212781
ISBN-13: 9781644212783
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Publish Date: 04/08/2025
Dimensions: 8.20" L, 5.50" W, 0.70" H
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