Sex, Freedom, and Power in Imperial Germany, 1880-1914

by Edward Ross Dickinson

Overview

This is a study of the intense, complex, and escalating debate over sexuality and sexual morality that roiled politics in Germany between 1880 and 1914. That debate was grounded in the rapid evolution and growing complexity of German society – the multiplication of cultural groupings, professional associations, and social movements; the emergence of new social groups, social milieus, and professions; the rapid development of the media and commercial entertainments; and so on. All parties involved understood it to be a debate over the most fundamental question of modern political life: how to secure both national power and individual freedom in the context of rapid social and cultural change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781107672734
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/28/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	354
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.06(h) x 0.83(d)

About the Author

Edward Ross Dickinson is Associate Professor of History at the University of California, Davis. He previously taught at Victoria University of Wellington from 1991 to 2000, and at the University of Cincinnati from 2002 to 2007. He is author of The Politics of German Child Welfare from the Empire to the Federal Republic (1996) and numerous articles in Central European History, the German Studies Review, European History Quarterly, the Journal of the History of Sexuality, Gender and History, History Workshop, the Journal of Modern History, German History and the Dance Chronicle.

Table of Contents

Introduction: sex, politics, and modernity I; Part I. Moral Reform, 1880–1900: 1. Christian men and morality; 2. 'A spirit of insubordination': popular culture, modernism, and morality; 3. The politics of morality, class, and gender; 4. Religion, women, and morality; 5. Isolation and impact; Part II. Sexual Radicalism, 1900–14: 6. Social democratic sexual ethics; 7. Homosexual rights; 8. Syphilis and salvation; 9. Sex reform; 10. Religion of love; Part III. Conflict, 1908–14: 11. Men, sex, and science; 12. Confrontations, 1908–14; 13. Conclusion: sex, politics, and modernity II.

Editorial Reviews

'This volume provides a seamless account of primary voices grappling with sexuality and sexual reform in the Kaiserreich … Dickinson has provided a comprehensive, convincing, and beautifully written account of a most compelling and untidy debate.' Catherine L. Dollard, The American Historical Review

'As a whole, this book makes a very valuable contribution not only to the history of sexuality and sex reform but also to the larger exploration of how public debates about individual morality and private reproductive and sexual decisions both drew from and informed discussions about the relationship between the individual and the state in Imperial Germany.' Annette F. Timm, Journal of Modern History

From the Publisher