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The Ordinary Virtues

Moral Order in a Divided World
Jun 30, 2018ChrisMcMil rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
This is a timely book, given the current focus of some populist governments on refugees and the politics of division, and the emerging political discussion around the moral dilemmas that wealthy societies face, and in particular the role of governments and the growing threats to liberal democratic principles. Ignatieff visited major cities in 8 countries over 3 years to investigate and report on how globalization is affecting the "ordinary" citizen, from the perspective of human rights, ethics and values: is a global value set being established? In this book Ignatieff vividly describes what he found: some highly multicultural cities were working well, some had such extreme economic inequality that violence was barely being controlled, and in some cases the historic ethnic conflict was so extreme that communities barely tolerated each other. He spoke at length with leaders and with ordinary people, to better understand both the sources of division and of tolerance and acceptance in each of these far-flung cities. He provides a thoughtful analysis and discussion of his findings, puts them in context and offers some sage and hopeful advice, concluding with a discussion of the difference between the concrete, personal "ordinary virtues" and the abstract, institutional "universal human rights": the former being ultimately more effective, especially when guided and empowered by the latter.