Nice article Liam. I had wondered about the harmful manifestations of the sexual liberalism in France, especially towards children. I see you place the blame predominantly on post-war radicalism. I wonder if this claim is too strong? I’d think it at least goes back to the French Revolution and probably before. Marquis de Sade, reaching majority around 1800, is the prototype of the author you bring up in the article. In general, pedophilia is not a new phenomenon, and it manifests both in liberal and conservative institutions (such as the Catholic Church). The question regarding it’s sustenance in modern France is interesting nonetheless.
Thanks, man. You're right. It's not so much that I lay the blame solely on the post-war radicals, but I'll admit I forgot about Sade entirely. I don't know enough about the guy, but my understanding is that he didn't have a ton of social support for whatever brand of hedonism he was pushing at the time and ended up imprisoned and exiled for his views. I don't know what kind of influence he could've had. But you're likely onto something. Foucault et al. didn't just spring up out of the ether. I also wanted to ground the discussion in contemporary events and not drag it back to the pre-Revolution days - to me, it's more powerful to talk about what happened in the 1970s than the 1770s. It reminds us that these are modern people, modern issues, that need modern solutions as opposed to antiquated ideas that petered out with time. Where Sade was a fringe 18th century intellectual, the post-war guys were at the helm of the French academy only a few decades ago. You can see where the roots lie but it wasn't until recently that the ideas galvanized political capital. Pedophilia in reactionary institutions is a whole nother article, for sure. There's nothing uniquely radical about it.
Nice article Liam. I had wondered about the harmful manifestations of the sexual liberalism in France, especially towards children. I see you place the blame predominantly on post-war radicalism. I wonder if this claim is too strong? I’d think it at least goes back to the French Revolution and probably before. Marquis de Sade, reaching majority around 1800, is the prototype of the author you bring up in the article. In general, pedophilia is not a new phenomenon, and it manifests both in liberal and conservative institutions (such as the Catholic Church). The question regarding it’s sustenance in modern France is interesting nonetheless.
Thanks, man. You're right. It's not so much that I lay the blame solely on the post-war radicals, but I'll admit I forgot about Sade entirely. I don't know enough about the guy, but my understanding is that he didn't have a ton of social support for whatever brand of hedonism he was pushing at the time and ended up imprisoned and exiled for his views. I don't know what kind of influence he could've had. But you're likely onto something. Foucault et al. didn't just spring up out of the ether. I also wanted to ground the discussion in contemporary events and not drag it back to the pre-Revolution days - to me, it's more powerful to talk about what happened in the 1970s than the 1770s. It reminds us that these are modern people, modern issues, that need modern solutions as opposed to antiquated ideas that petered out with time. Where Sade was a fringe 18th century intellectual, the post-war guys were at the helm of the French academy only a few decades ago. You can see where the roots lie but it wasn't until recently that the ideas galvanized political capital. Pedophilia in reactionary institutions is a whole nother article, for sure. There's nothing uniquely radical about it.
Excellent article. Thank you!
Hey! So glad you liked it.