Global Anti-Vice Activism, 1890-1950: Fighting Drinks, Drugs, and 'Immorality'

Hardback

Main Details

Title Global Anti-Vice Activism, 1890-1950: Fighting Drinks, Drugs, and 'Immorality'
Authors and Contributors      Edited by Jessica R. Pliley
Edited by Robert Kramm
Edited by Harald Fischer-Tine
Physical Properties
Format:Hardback
Pages:366
Dimensions(mm): Height 235,Width 160
Category/GenreWorld history
Ethics and moral philosophy
ISBN/Barcode 9781107102668
ClassificationsDewey:170
Audience
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Illustrations 6 Halftones, black and white

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 4 July 2016
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Vice was one of the primary shared interests of the global community at the turn of the twentieth century. Anti-vice activists worked to combat noxious substances such as alcohol, drugs and cigarettes, and 'immoral' sexual activities such as prostitution. Nearly all of these activists approached the issue of vice by expressing worries about the body, its physical health, and functionality. By situating anti-vice politics in their broader historical contexts, Global Anti-Vice Activism, 1890-1950 sheds fresh light on the initiatives of various actors, organizations and institutions which have previously been treated primarily within national and regional boundaries. Looking at anti-vice policy from both social and cultural historical perspectives, it illuminates the centrality of regulating vice in imperial and national modernization projects. The contributors argue that vice and vice regulation constitute an ideal topic for global history, because they bridge the gap between discourse and practice, and state and civil society.

Author Biography

Jessica R. Pliley is an Assistant Professor of Women's and Gender History at Texas State University, San Marcos. Robert Kramm-Masaoka is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Research Institute of Comparative History and Culture at Hanyang University, Seoul. Harald Fischer-Tine is Professor of Modern Global History at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (ETH-Zurich).