Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/8703
Title: | Pornography, panopticism and the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 |
Authors: | Petley, J |
Keywords: | Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008;Pornography;Surveillance society;Internet regulation |
Issue Date: | 2009 |
Publisher: | Blackwell |
Citation: | Sociology Compass, 3(3), 417 - 432, 2009 |
Abstract: | In May 2008, the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act was passed in the United Kingdom. Among other things, this made it an offence even to possess what it describes as an ‘extreme pornographic image’. This paper analyses the particular factors which gave rise to this measure, support for it amongst the police and politicians, and the problems which are likely to arise from attempts to enforce it. In particular, the paper argues that the measure is so ill-conceived that it is likely to criminalise the possession of a far wider range of images than was originally intended. More generally, the paper examines the Act in the context of (a) the increasing tendency on the part of governments both democratic and non-democratic to attempt to regulate the Internet and its users; (b) the development of the ‘surveillance society’; and (c) New Labour's marked tendency to legislate for private and personal realms traditionally regarded as out-of-bounds in a democratic polity. The paper concludes that the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act is a disturbing symptom of the development of the United Kingdom as not simply a surveillance society but also a post-social democratic state. |
Description: | This is the accepted version of the following article: Petley, J. (2009), Pornography, Panopticism and the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. Sociology Compass, 3: 417–432, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1751- 9020.2009.00212.x/abstract. |
URI: | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00212.x/abstract http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/8703 |
DOI: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00212.x |
ISSN: | 1751-9020 |
Appears in Collections: | Media Dept of Social and Political Sciences Research Papers |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Fulltext.pdf | 548.46 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
Items in BURA are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.