America is driven by vengeance in Terry Aladjem s provocative account a reactive, public anger that is a threat to democratic justice itself. From the return of the death penalty to the wars on terror and in Iraq, Americans demand retribution and moral certainty; they assert the rights of victims and make pronouncements against evil. Yet for Aladjem this dangerously authoritarian turn has its origins in the tradition of liberal justice itself in theories of punishment that justify inflicting pain and in the punitive practices that result. Exploring vengeance as the defining problem of our...

America is driven by vengeance in Terry Aladjem s provocative account a reactive, public anger that is a threat to democratic justice itself. From the return of the death penalty to the wars on terror and in Iraq, Americans demand retribution and moral certainty; they assert the rights of victims and make pronouncements against evil. Yet for Aladjem this dangerously authoritarian turn has its origins in the tradition of liberal justice itself in theories of punishment that justify inflicting pain and in the punitive practices that result. Exploring vengeance as the defining problem of our...