Moral issues, especially about the family and sexual morality, have become central to debates on social policy in both Britain and the USA. This article examines the genesis and form of those debates in both countries at the level of national politics. It is argued that the new right, in the USA represented chiefly by the Moral Majority, and in Britain by rightwing pressure groups on the present Tory government, have stolen the initiative and are attempting to reconstruct a social and moral order through policies on sexual morality such as religious and sex education in schools, birth control policies for teenagers, etc. The impact of this pressure on policy initiatives, such as the US teenage chastity programme and the British Health Education programme, are discussed.
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References
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2.
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I have tried to analyse these arguments in a previous paper. See M.E. David, 1982, 'The new right, sex, education and social policy: towards a new moral economy in Britain and the USA' in Jane Lewis (ed) Women's Rights: Women's Welfare, Croom Helm .
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See for example, B. Rowthorn, 1982, 'The past strikes back', Marxism Today, 1 January.
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A. Wolfe (note 3) op. cit.
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D. Plotke, 1981, `Reagan: is it as bad as it sounds?', Marxism Today, February;
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C. Mouffe, 1981, 'Democracy and the new right', Politics and Power 4, Routledge and Kegan Paul, pp.221-233.
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Quoted in M. Davis (note 8) op. cit., p.39.
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Z. Eisenstein (note 4) op. cit., p.567.
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See, here, Sadie Robarts, with Anna Coote and Elizabeth Ball, 1981, Positive Action for Women: the next step, National Council for Civil Liberties.
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ibid, p.156.
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Rosalind Pollack Petchesky, 1981,'Antiabortion, antifeminism and the rise of the new right' , Feminist Studies, 7, 2, summer, pp.206-246.
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Donald Horowitz, in a comprehensive review of British and American lawmaking, argues that America is a more litigous society. See D. Horowitz, 1980, The Courts and Social Policy, Brookings Institution, chapter one.
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Frances Fox Piven and Richard Cloward, 1981, Moral Economy and the Welfare State, paper presented to the British Sociological Association annual conference, 9 April, Aberystwyth, Wales.
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See, for example, American Bar Association Journal , 1979, vo1.65, October, pp.1464-5.
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Z. Eisenstein (note 2) op. cit., p.193.
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The range of policies is best described in K. Davidson (note 16), op. cit.
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Quoted on David Frost's programme on the moral majority on BBC2, 9 November 1981.
32.
See both Eisensteinop. cit., (note 2);
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and Petchesky (note 15) op. cit.
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James C. Mohr (1978) Abortion in America: The Origins and Evolution of National Policy, Oxford University Press, see afterword 'The Roe decision and the end of an era', pp.246-263.
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Gilbert Steiner , 1980, The Futility of Family Policy , The Brookings Institution, pp.54-71.
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ibid.
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and 'Congress races against the clock', US News & World Report, vo1.93, no.11, 13 September 1982, p.7.
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Rosalind Pollack Petchesky, 1980, 'Reproductive freedom: beyond "a woman's right to choose"', Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, vol.5, no.4, pp.661-685.
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Gilbert Steinerdocuments the growth of congressional and presidential concern in this issue. G. Steiner op. cit. , (note 24) pp.71-88.
42.
The question has also been well documentedby Catherine Chilmanforthe US Department of Health, Education and Welfare. See Catherine Chilman, 1980, Adolescent Sexuality in a Changing American Society: Social and Psychological Perspectives, NIH publication, no.80-1426.
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Women and Education, 1978-79 , Harvard Educational Review.
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Newsweek ibid.
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I am indebted to GeofRayner for clarification on this point Personal communication 10 September 1982.
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Petchesky (note 15) p.224.
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ibid, p.228.
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ibid, p.232.
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A. Coote and B. Campbell (1982) Sweet Freedom, Picador .
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ibid, p.42.
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ibid., p.42.
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ibid, p.43.
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ibid., p.44.
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ibid., p.582.
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78.
Frances Fox Piven and Richard A. Cloward, 1982, The New Class WarReagan's Attack on the Welfare State and its Consequences, Pantheon Books, esp. ch.1.
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Population Trends 26, winter 1981, Government Statistical Service, HMSO, p.9.
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ibid., p.9.
81.
ibid., p.9.
82.
Quoted in The Guardian, 28 April 1981, p.12. I am grateful to Linda Ward, a former postgraduate, for help with this point.
83.
The Guardian, October 1980.
84.
Felicity Jones , 1982, 'HEC launches sex education campaign', The Times Health Supplement , 5 February, page 1. I am grateful to Lyn Harrison, a postgraduate student of mine, for these specific references.
85.
ibid.
86.
'Say no to sex', Maternity Action , the bulletin ofthe Maternity Alliance, no.3, January/February 1982, p.1.
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(note 1) ibid
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Lynne Segal , 1982, 'Unhappy families', New Socialist, no.6, July/August 1982, pp. 16-17.
89.
Harold Silver , 1978, 'Education and social policy' , New Society, vo1.46, no.843, 30 November.
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I explored this in much greater detail in M.E. David, 1982, 'Sex, education and social policy: a new moral economy?' to be published in S. Walker and L. Barton(eds), Gender, Class and Education , Falmer Press.
91.
DES and Welsh Office (1980 ) A Framework for the School Curriculum, London, DES, January, p.8, para.32.
92.
DES and Welsh Offce (1981 ) the School Curriculum, HMSO, p.8, para.25.
93.
ibid, p.8, para.26.
94.
95.
Bert Lodge, 1981, 'Call for sex education review'Times Educational Supplement, 30 December, p.30.
96.
The latest such conference was held in Bath in July 1982 entitled 'Education for Family Responsibility and Child Development', DES Course No.45, Bath College of Higher Education, 12-17 July 1982.
97.
The Handbook ofmedical Ethics, 1981, British Medical Association, p.18, paras.2.9-2.11. Sir George Young(note 66) alsomentioned, in the speech, quoted above, how the DHSS was revising its guidelines to doctors and recommending that 'parents should normally be involved' in decisions on contraceptives.
98.
Case first quoted in The Guardian, 20 March 1982. I am grateful to Ms Audrey Leathard for clarification on this point.
99.
'Abortion: war breaks out blandly?', The Guardian, 23 January 1982, p.10.
100.
For an analysis of the 1970s see D. Marsh and J. Chambers (1981) Abortion Politics , Junction Books, esp. ch.1 & 7.
101.
See, for example, Ian Kennedy, 1982, 'Reflections on the Arthur case', New Society, vol.59, no.999, 7 January, pp.13-16.
102.
Quoted in Jean Coussins and Anna Coote, 1981, 'The family in the firing line: a discussion document on family policy', Poverty Pamphlet51, March, Child Poverty Action Group and National Council for Civil Liberties, p.7.
103.
Hansard Debates , 4 November 1981. Quoted in Women Where are Your Jobs Going: A Study of Women's Unemployment in Haringey and Lewisham 1982, Harringay Women's Employment Project and Lewisham Women's Employment Project
104.
See, for example, Coussins and Coote (note 85) op. cit.,
105.
Hilary Land.1982, 'Who still cares for the family?' to be published in Jane Lewis (ed), Women's Rights; Women's Welfare ,, Croom Helm.
106.
R. Smith et al1980, The Subtle Revolution , The Urban Institute; and F.F. Piven and R.A. Cloward (note 62) op. cit., and Z. Eisenstein (note 4).
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Sadie Robarts (note 11) op. cit.
108.
For Britain, see Coussins and Coote (note 85) op. cit. For the USA, see The New Republic, 3, 485, 28 October 1981, where Reagan is quoted as saying he believes in Equal Rights but not the Amendment, and it is shown that his budget axe has fallen disproportionately on women, through the cuts in public assistance. See Eisenstein (note 4) op. cit., p.5 84, and'Poverty trap. No way out ?', vol.93, no.7, US News and World Report, vol.93, no.7,16 August 1982, pp.31-35 which, although very rightwing, demonstrates that 18½ million women are in poverty as contrasted with 13.36 million men.
109.
The US Family Protection Act aimed to rescind aspects of the law. The EOC in England has been starved of resources; Lady Howe, former deputy chairman (sic) of the EOC resigned her post when the Tories came to power and her husband was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, seeing her position as inappropriate and untenable.
110.
A phrase coined by Z. Eisenstein, 1980, The Radical Future of Liberal Feminism, Longmans, p.243.
111.
Petchesky (note 15), p.237.
112.
ibid., p.238.
113.
See also L. Segal (note 72) op. cit., p.18.
114.
See also London-Edinburgh Weekend Return Group (1981), In and Against the State , Pluto Press.
115.
For another formulation of the argument see M. Hughes et al (1980 ) Nurseries Now, Penguin. I have also tried to develop this See
116.
M. David and H. Land (forthcoming) 'Sex and social policy' in H. Glennerster (ed), Remaking Social Policy, Fabian Society.
