January 14, 2005
Director of Media Relations
413/542-8417

AMHERST, Mass.-Austin Sarat, the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College, is the editor of Dissent in Dangerous Times ($60, cloth, $22.95, paper, 192 pp., University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor 2005), a collection of essays by six distinguished scholars who provide their own distinctive takes on the interplay of loyalty, patriotism and dissent. In addition to Sarat, the other contributors are Wendy Brown of the University of California, Berkeley; Lauren Berlant from the University of Chicago; Hugh Gusterson of MIT; David Cole of the Georgetown Law Center and Nancy L. Rosenblum from Harvard University.

Dissent in Dangerous Times, according to the publisher, "examines the role of political opposition in our times, the nature of political repression in liberal societies, the political and legal implications of fear, and how past generations responded to similar situations. It is also a reminder of the fragility and enduring power of freedom, and will inspire readers to think about, and beyond, September 11."

Sarat, who has taught at Amherst since 1974, has written many books. Most recently he was the co-author with Stuart Scheingold of Something to Believe In: Politics, Professionalism and Cause Lawyering (2004). His next book, Mercy on Trial: What It Means to Stop an Execution, will be published in 2005 by Princeton University Press. Sarat has served as president of the Law and Society Association and of the Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities.

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