Reviews

The idea that social identity should be based on race or birthplace has left the world a seething mess of small wars. Matustik, a Czech freedom activist who now teaches at Purdue, suggests that our humanity is based on an ``existential'' need to choose and reach out to the world, with social identity based on dialog. Matustik's existentialism is Kierkegaardian, while his interest in dialog comes from Jurgen Habermas, a contemporary German. But nonacademic readers can focus on his reference to Czech president Vaclav Havel, who rejects Marxism but accepts community responsibility. Havel's dedication to humanizing community experience helped keep Czechs and Slovaks peaceful--but Matustik passes by the fact that theories of identity are not enough to create an economy that depends neither on bureaucracy nor on individual greed. Alas, economics more than politics separated Czechs from Slovaks. Recommended for academic libraries.-- Leslie Armour, Univ. of Ottawa, Ontario