Perseus Academic: Joining Hands by Roger S. Gottlieb

"Roger Gottlieb has produced a profound and significant integration of spiritual and political concerns. Highlighting the spiritual strengths and weaknesses of the civil rights, anti-war, and feminist movements, Gottlieb shows that world-making politics and religion can be partners as they inform and deepen each other. As he ponders his role as a father of a physically challenged child, eschewing a perpetually optimistic version of spirituality, Gottlieb forces us to rethinking our commitment to "rational autonomy" as central to human identity. Rather than the dogmatic confidence of the true believer, Gottlieb offers faith and hope that leads to individual and collective political action even in the face of sorrow and loss, and without the surety of success."
— Tikkun

"Gottlieb writes well and with passion."
— Choice

"Makes refreshing contributions to the fields of social activism, and political science and will probably spark interesting discussion among readers."
— MultiCultural Review

"…An absorbing look at the merger of religion and politics."
— Booklist

"Most who write on politics and religion do so from one side or the other. Gottlieb is deeply immersed in both. As a result this is the richest, most accurate and most balanced account to date of an issue that is, or should be, of central importance to all who care about the world's future."
— John B. Cobb, Jr.,, Professor Emeritus, Claremont School of Theology

"It is hard to imagine a more timely work than Joining Hands. In a world increasingly subjected to the catastrophic polarity of violent fundamentalism and spiritless secularism, Roger Gottlieb offers a 'Middle Way', generous, humane, and authentically hopeful."
— Joel Kovel, Professor of Social Studies, Bard College, and author of The Enemy of Nature

"Gottlieb's book introduces a fresh voice and a refreshing perspective on a subject that has suffered too long from fixed ideas and static positions. It is a hopeful book at a time when much of the talk about religion and politics is glum. An important contribution."
— Harvey Cox, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Divinity, Harvard Divinity School

"This book is both extraordinarily smart and extraordinarily moving. If we are to solve the massive challenges we face, then the involvement of faith communities is mandatory—and as this novel argument makes clear, that involvement will benefit not only politics but also religion. This is a foundational document for anyone trying to figure out where activism will come from, and what it will look like, in the decades ahead."
— Bill McKibben, author, The End of Nature

"An exceptionally important book. It shows how politics and spirituality need each other, and how we need both to create a better world."
— David Barnhill, Guilford College