Flogging others : corporal punishment and cultural identity from antiquity to the present

Corporal Punishment Is Often Seen As A Litmus Test For A Society's Degree Of Civilization. Its Licit Use Purports To Separate Modernity From Premodernity, Enlightened From Barbaric Cultures. As Geltner Argues, However, Neither Did The Infliction Of Bodily Pain Typify Earlier Societies Nor Did It Vanish From Penal Theory, Policy, Or Practice. Far From Displaying A Steady Decline That Accelerated With The Enlightenment, Physical Punishment Was Contested Throughout Antiquity And The Middle Ages, Its Application Expanding And Contracting Under Diverse Pressures. Moreover, Despite The Integration Of Penal Incarceration Into Criminal Justice Systems Since The Nineteenth Century, Modern Nation States And Colonial Regimes Increased Rather Than Limited The Use Of Corporal Punishment. Flogging Others Thus Challenges A Common Understanding Of Modernization And Western Identity And Underscores Earlier Civilizations' Nuanced Approaches To Punishment, Deviance, And The Human Body. Today As In The Past, Corporal Punishment Thrives Due To Its Capacity To Define Otherness Efficiently And Unambiguously, Either As A Measure Acting Upon A Deviant's Body Or As A Practice That Epitomizes - In The Eyes Of External Observers - A Culture's Backwardness. Geltner's Striking Account...makes This Volume Necessary Reading Well Beyond The History Of Criminology Itself. - Ed Peters, Henry Charles Lea Professor Of History At The University Of Pennsylvania. Brilliant! A Short, Sharp, And Often Shocking Corrective To Conventional Penal History And Western Cultural Categories. Geltner's Little Book Mobilizes An Abundance Of Comparative Evidence To Challenge Our Historical Understanding Of Bodily Punishment And To Point Up The Invidious Cultural Uses Of That History. An Object Lesson In Scholarly Provocation. - David Garland, New York University, Author Of Punishment And Modern Society. 'this Provocative Thesis About The Continuation Of Corporal Punishment Will Give Rise To A Great Deal Of Debate.' - Pieter Spierenburg, Emeritus Professor At The Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam. Corporal punishment is often seen as a litmus test for a society's degree of civilization. Its licit use purports to separate modernity from premodernity, enlightened from barbaric cultures. As Geltner argues, however, neither did the infliction of bodily pain typify earlier societies nor did it vanish from penal theory, policy, or practice. Far from displaying a steady decline that accelerated with the Enlightenment, physical punishment was contested throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages, its application expanding and contracting under diverse pressures. Moreover, despite the integration of penal incarceration into criminal justice systems since the nineteenth century, modern nation states and colonial regimes increased rather than limited the use of corporal punishment. Flogging Others thus challenges a common understanding of modernization and Western identity and underscores earlier civilizations' nuanced approaches to punishment, deviance, and the human body. Today as in the past, corporal punishment thrives due to its capacity to define otherness efficiently and unambiguously, either as a measure acting upon a deviant's body or as a practice that epitomizes - in the eyes of external observers - a culture's backwardness. "Geltner's striking account ... makes this volume necessary reading well beyond the history of criminology itself."--Ed Peters, Henry Charles Lea Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. "Brilliant! A short, sharp, and often shocking corrective to conventional penal history and western cultural categories. Geltner's little book mobilizes an abundance of comparative evidence to challenge our historical understanding of bodily punishment and to point up the invidious cultural uses of that history. An object lesson in scholarly provocation." - David Garland, New York University, author of Punishment and Modern Society. 'This provocative thesis about the continuation of corporal punishment will give rise to a great deal of debate.' - Pieter Spierenburg, Emeritus Professor at the Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam. Bron: Flaptekst, uitgeversinformatie Corporal punishment is often considered a relic of the Western past, a set of thinly veiled barbaric practices largely abandoned in the process of civilization. As G. Geltner argues, however, the infliction of bodily pain was not necessarily typical for earlier societies, nor has it vanished from modern penal theory, policy, and practice. To the contrary, corporal punishment still thrives today thanks to its capacity to define otherness efficiently and unambiguously. Challenging a number of common myths and misconceptions about physical punishment’s importance over the centuries, Flogging Others offers a new perspective on modernization and Western identity. Content: Introduction [-]1. Historical and Anthropological Approaches[-]Problems of Definition[-]Problems of Interpretation[-]2. Punishing Bodies[-]Antiquity[-]Later Antiquity[-]Religion and Punishment[-]Medieval and Early Modern Europe[-]Modernity to the Present[-]Conclusion[-]Acknowledgements[-]Notes[-]Works Cited[-]Index[-]

The first comprehensive study of film festivals that marks key historical moments and offers surprising insights into the workings of a highly influential cultural network

G. Geltner. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.