Blue politics : pornography and the law in the age of feminism / Dany Lacombe.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lacombe, Dany, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Obscenity (Law)--Canada.

Obscenity (Law).

Pornography--Law and legislation--Government policy--Canada.

Pornography.

Pornography--Law and legislation--Social aspects--Canada.

Feminism--Canada.

Feminism.

Canada.

Genre:

Livres numeriques.

e-books.

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (242 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Toronto, [Ontario] : University of Toronto Press, 1994.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In 1985 the Special Committee on Pornography and Prostitution, the Fraser Committee, recommended the criminalization of violent and degrading sexually explicit material on the ground that it harmed women. On two occasions (in 1986 with Bill C-114 and in 1987 with Bill C-54) the Mulroney government proposed a more restrictive approach to the regulation of pornography. Despite the support of various feminist and religious/family-oriented organizations, the government's attempts at law reform failed. Obscenity provisions were neither repealed nor replaced by a law criminalizing pornography. Blue Politics looks at the social and political mechanisms that initiated, shaped, and finally defeated the controversial legal proposals of the Conservative government in the 1980s. Dany Lacombe documents the emergence of a feminist definition of pornography, analyses the impact this definition had on the debate between conservative and civil libertarian organizations, and identifies the emergence of groups who strongly resisted the attempt to reform the law: feminists against censorship and sex radicals. Finally, she examines the way in which institutional practices are shaped by and yet shape the power relations between groups. The emphasis is on the way such power relations are embodied in the policy-making process. Drawing on Michel Foucault's concept of 'power/knowledge, ' Lacombe reveals how the process to criminalize pornography inaugurated a controversial politics that produced collective identities and transformed power relations. She shows law reform as a strategy that both constrains and enables action.

Contents:

Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: Introduction

Law reform and 'the order of things'

A methodological note

Part 1: Pornography as an Object of Knowledge

Chapter 2: The Emergence of a Feminist Position on Pornography

The religious and moral rationales for the prohibition of obscenity in the 1960s

The liberal rationale for the repeal of obscenity legislation in the 1960s

The feminist anti-pornography movement

The language of causality and the language of rights: The mobilization of scientific and legal discourses

The politics of scienceThe politics of interpretation

The politics of sexuality

Chapter 3: Compliance with and Resistance to the Feminist Claim of Harm

The conservative position on pornography in the 1980s

The mobilization of science: Facts versus morality

The mobilization of law to restore a conservative common good

The civil libertarian position in the 1980s

The position of feminists against censorship

The position of sex radicals and sex workers

Summary

Part 2: Institutional Practices

Chapter 4: The Special Committee on Pornography and ProstitutionThe creation of the Fraser Committee

The report of the Fraser Committee

The composition of the Fraser Committee

Criminal law and the protection of fundamental values

Ambiguous logic: A feminist rationale combined with conventional ideas about criminalization

The marginalization of alternative discourses

The reliance on institutional expertise and practices

Conclusion

Chapter 5: Bill C-114: The First Attempt at Pornography Law Reform

The impact of a change in government

Pressure from pro-censorship forcesThe policy-making process in the Department of Justice

The consultative process in the Tory caucus

The centrality of child sexual abuse

Public reaction and the death of Bill C-114

Chapter 6: Bill C-54: The Impossible Compromise

Dissenting reactions from artists, civil libertarians, and the media

Mixed reactions from feminists

The revolt of the librarians

The retreat of the conservatives

The death of Bill C-54: Mixed results

Five years later: The Butler decision

Chapter 7: The Enabling Quality of Law ReformLaw reform and science

Law reform and the politics of rights

Epilogue: Postmodern Art in the Age of Obscenity

Appendix: List of Sources

Notes

Bibliography

Index

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

W

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-282-04544-X

9786612045448

1-4426-7147-5

OCLC:

654796293