The War on Sex
David M. Halperin is W. H. Auden Distinguished University Professor of the History and Theory of Sexuality in the English Department at the University of Michigan and the author, most recently, of
Trevor Hoppe is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University at Albany, State University of New York, and author of
David M. Halperin is W. H. Auden Distinguished University Professor of the History and Theory of Sexuality in the English Department at the University of Michigan and the author, most recently, of
Trevor Hoppe is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University at Albany, State University of New York, and author of
The New Pariahs: Sex, Crime, and Punishment in America
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Published:March 2017
Historians and sociologists have mapped the racial dimensions of the emergent culture of control, with its bloated prison system and far-flung surveillance techniques. This chapter draws out the sexual dimension, emphasizing how the figure of the imperiled child stands at center stage in the national drama. Beginning in the mid-1970s, a succession of modern sex crime panics have redefined childhood, reshaped American social institutions, fostered new forms of identity based on victimization, eroded democratic legal norms, and contributed to the development of a deeply seated culture of fear.
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