About this item
What moral values do human beings hold in common? As globalization draws us together economically, are our values converging or diverging? In particular, are human rights becoming a global ethic? These were the questions that led Michael Ignatieff to embark on a three-year, eight-nation journey in search of answers. The Ordinary Virtues presents Ignatieff's discoveries and his interpretation of what globalization -- and resistance to it -- is doing to our conscience and our moral understanding.Through dialogues with favela dwellers in Brazil, South Africans and Zimbabweans living in shacks, Japanese farmers, gang leaders in Los Angeles, and monks in Myanmar, Ignatieff found that while human rights may be the language of states and liberal elites, the moral language that resonates with most people is that of everyday virtues: tolerance, forgiveness, trust, and resilience.
About the Author
Writer, historian, professor and politician, Michael Ignatieff was born in Canada, educated at the University of Toronto and Harvard and now lives and works in Vienna, Austria where he is a professor of history at Central European University. He is married to Zsuzsanna Zsohar and has two children. He has written biography, reportage, history, philosophy and his books have been published in many languages. His recurrent themes are the fate of human rights and liberal values in a time of convulsive change. His novel--Scar Tissue-- was nominated for the Booker Prize and his defense of academic freedom and liberal principles earned him the Dan David Prize in 2019.
