CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2014
| Author | Yetis, Erman Orsan |
|---|---|
| Title | Chemical Castration of Rape Convicts and Pedophiles: Biopolitical Reading of Fear, Abject/Criminalized Masculinities in a Neoliberal Society |
| Summary | In February 2011, a draft law proposed by some of the women parliament members of the ruling party in Turkey, the Justice and Development Party, envisaged the application of a medical treatment so as to eliminate the sexual motivation and capacity of rape offenders to prevent the reoccurrence of rape and pedophilia in the society. According to the legislative proposal, the procedure applied to offenders is perceived as a method to reduce the testosterone level that is thought to cause violence and inappropriate sexual energy. While the parliament members who proposed the draft law considered the proposal as the most radical solution to sex offenses, various reactions from feminists, NGOs and the general public have emerged with one common point: they all agree on the prevalence of sex crimes in society as a problem. The basis for this thesis was founded on the legislative proposal in question that will soon be put into motion, after three years of discussions and no major changes on the initial proposal. The aim of this thesis is to understand how various medical and legal discourses meet around various ethical concerns in the form of a legislative proposal. While chemical castration is proposed as a solution against sex crimes, the indirect relationship among male sexuality, crime and fear of crime comes to light. Approaching chemical castration as a “cure” and a “radical solution” is an attempt at both evaluating it within modern and humanitarian values, and presenting it as an absolute solution. From this point-of-view, the application of chemical castration should be perceived as a part of a new kind of penology that reflects the neoliberal governmentality and the governmental policies of neo-conservative states. It can be seen that the act of governing, produced by power within the political economy of the late modernity and advanced capitalism orients to conform the moral concerns and the fear of crime in the society. Amidst this political economy, chemical castration presents itself as conforming social fear and moral concerns within a governmentality, in which medical and legal intertwines. Permeating all aspects of life, power re-shapes itself within the life itself, through its own techniques. Throughout this thesis, the ways the biopolitical governmentality grasps male sexuality from molecular gaze and makes the sexuality a part of its own control strategies within the political economy will be presented. |
| Supervisor | Timar, Eszter |
| Department | Gender Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2014/yetis_erman.pdf |
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