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

Published Toronto ; Buffalo : University of Toronto Press, ©1994

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Description 1 online resource (xii, 229 pages) 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 -- Conclusion -- 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 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 Analysis Obscenity Law Canada Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Print version record Subject Obscenity (Law) -- Canada Pornography -- Law and legislation -- Government policy -- Canada Pornography -- Law and legislation -- Social aspects -- Canada Feminism -- Canada Pornography -- Political aspects -- Canada Pornography -- Social aspects -- Canada Obscenity (Aesthetics) -- Canada SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Pornography. SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Criminology. Pornography -- Social aspects Pornography -- Political aspects Obscenity (Aesthetics) Feminism Obscenity (Law) Pornography -- Law and legislation -- Social aspects Pornografie Recht Feminismus Canada Kanada Genre/Form Electronic books e-books. Livres numériques. Form Electronic book ISBN 9781442671478 1442671475 128204544X 9781282045446

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