Abolitionism: Unterschied zwischen den Versionen

What is justice? What is tolerable? And what should never ever be tolerated by any human society? Here we touch upon [http://commonsenseatheism.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Gallie-Essentially-Contested-Concepts.pdf essentially contested concepts] and fundamental conflicts that have been riveting the public of all ages and cultures. By definition, abolitionists turn against an established order by challenging the legitimacy of one of its legal institutions (e.g. slavery) which they, the abolitionists, claim to be utterly unjust and morally completely untenable. This radical reproach does not make them popular with the defenders of the status quo. More often than not they picture abolitionists as irresponsible and dangerous radicals at the lunatic fringes of society. Every now and then, though, history concedes victory to the abolitionist cause - such as in the case of slavery. In those cases, abolitionism gains high respect after victory, and to have overcome an inhumane institution suddenly turns into a source of pride for the whole nation.

In the 1860s, the British government enacted some so-called Contagious Diseases Acts that were aimed at a repressive control of prostitutes deemed by many a violation of human rights.

The Contagious Diseases Acts , also known as the CD Acts, were originally passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1864, with alterations and editions made in 1866 and 1869. In 1862, a committee was established to inquire into venereal disease in the armed forces; on its recommendation the first Contagious Diseases Act was passed. The legislation allowed police officers to arrest prostitutes in certain ports and army towns, and the women were then subjected to compulsory checks for venereal disease. If a woman was declared to be infected, she would be confined in what was known as a Lock Hospital until "cured". The original act was only lawful in a few selected naval ports and army towns, but by 1869 the acts had been extended to be in operation in eighteen "subjected districts".

The main cause for conflict were the conditions in lock hospitals. If a woman was declared diseased she would be confined in what were known as Lock hospitals. The Lock hospitals or Lock wards were designed specifically to treat those infected with a venereal disease. Conditions in Lock Hospitals were inadequate. An 1882 survey estimated that there were only 402 beds for female patients in all the voluntary lock hospitals in Great Britain, and out of this number only 232 were "funded for use". Female venereal patients generally had to resort to workhouse infirmaries.

If women are punished for sex with men outside of marriage, but men are not, this raises a question of equality before the law. Such a question can be answered, in principle, either by extending punishment to men or by abolishing punishment for women - in both cases both sexes would be equal.  

Ideological opposition still exists. The question is: what does abolitioism mean?

After a struggle of 16 years, the Acts were repealed.  

As a consequence, the old and latent conflict between those who advocated civil rights for prostitutes on the one hand, and others who advocated an end to prostitution as such, on the other hand, became more virulent.

*State has no Right (Social Contract). The death penalty (capital punishment) can be seen as a violation of human rights. To deny the right to life is a serious challenge to the very idea of rights belonging to a human being.  

*Uselessness and Counterproductivity (Beccaria ... )

*One of the first Quakers by the name of John Bellers (1654-1775) was critical of the death penalty, as was Cesare Beccaria (/1764), even if Beccaria allowed for the death penalty to persist in cases of high treason in the penal code of Lombardy at the late 18th century in the development of which he was involved. Beccaria founded his argument upon the social contract: nobody would agree to his losing his life in such a contract. German philosopher Immanuel Kant saw it quite differently, though.  

Despite pressure for the abolition of the death penalty, many countries in the world still maintain the death penalty in their criminal codes and in practice.

Capital punishment has, in the past, been practised by most societies; currently 58 nations actively practise it, and 97 countries have abolished it (the remainder have not used it for 10 years or allow it only in exceptional circumstances such as wartime).

Although many nations have abolished capital punishment, over 60% of the world's population live in countries where executions take place, such as the People's Republic of China, India, the United States of America and Indonesia, the four most-populous countries in the world, which continue to apply the death penalty (although in India, Indonesia and in many US states it is rarely employed). Each of these four nations voted against the General Assembly resolutions. (from. capital punishment, in: en.wikipedia).

David Garland attributes the persistence of capital punishment to the relatively undeveloped nature of the American state and to the country’s low levels of social solidarity. Governments that are secure in their power and legitimacy are confident enough to banish the executioner. These tend to be countries that have professional criminal justice systems insulated from the public’s passion for revenge and that are able to maintain low levels of interpersonal violence. Not so surprisingly, then, the death penalty is most entrenched in the South, which has had the nation’s highest homicide rates and where the police have tended to be relatively under-funded and less professiona.

*Ideal and Reality (Charles Dickens; Academy of Crime; Class, Race, Angela Davis and Prison ...)

*Decline of the Ideal (Warehousing)

*Social basis of abolition: Prison is old-fashioned (Deleuze). Widening gap between value of freedom of movement and communication on the one and cage-confinement on the other hand.

*Prison as punishment, i.e. as a punitive reaction to crime, i.e. as a legal reaction to a violation of criminal law that consists of the intentional infliction of suffering to make someone "pay" for his crime.  

*Not: confinement per se. Not confinement for medical reasons or reasons of public security (serial killer).  

*Empirical hypothesis: public security can be guaranteed as well as with prisons or even better by ambulatory measures.  

*Foucault and France.  

*RAP in Great Britain

Problem der moralischen Basis des Abolitionsdiskurses: keine unschuldigen Opfer wie die Sklaven, sondern schuldige Täter.

*Christie: Limits to Pain

Controversies surrounding the abolitionist agenda today center on the question of idealism, utopianism, and on the question of the rule of law. Some emancipatory movements are investing their hopes into participatory power In the state and legal apparatus, and thus aim at enshrining their beliefs and values in the criminal law instead of abolishing the penal codes. This weakened the abolitionist movement, but the last word has not been spoken on this matter.