糖心TV

Speaker: Clare Chambers (Cambridge) Title: 'Against Marriage'

Abstract:

This talk will outline the arguments in Clare's recent book 'Against Marriage: An Egalitarian Defence of the Marriage-Free State'. The book is a radical argument for the abolition of state-recognised marriage. Clare will argue that state-recognised marriage violates both equality and liberty, even when expanded to include same-sex couples. Instead, she proposes the marriage-free state: an egalitarian state in which religious or secular marriages are permitted but have no legal status.

The talk will focus on the case against marriage. Feminists have long argued that marriage is a violation of equality since it is both sexist and heterosexist. Clare endorses the feminist view and argues, in contrast to recent egalitarian pro-marriage movements, that same-sex marriage is not enough to make marriage equal. She will then argue that state-recognised marriage is also problematic for liberalism, particularly political liberalism, since it imposes a controversial, hierarchical conception of the family that excludes many adults and children. Clare's talk will end with an outline of the alternative model of regulation that she proposes: the marriage-free state. In the marriage-free state, regulation is based on relationship practices not relationship status, and these practices are regulated separately rather than as a bundle. The marriage-free state thus employs piecemeal, practice-based regulation.

Alison Gibbons (Sheffield Hallam): 'Uses and Abuses of Reading Life: Morality, Fictionality and the Trial of Ahmed Naji'

"...they are accusing me as if I were the fictional character in the novel. Whatever the fictional character is doing in the novel, the prosecution is dealing with it as if it were my personal confessions. If the court gives us a verdict and if the court agrees that this is literature, this is a novel, I think this will have a huge effect on the freedom of expression in Egypt"

These are the words of Egyptian journalist and novelist Ahmed Naji, speaking in January 2016 (RNW Media 2016) about his prosecution by the state for 'violating public modesty'. The case went to trial with Naji acquitted in December 2015. Subsequently, though, the prosecution appealed; Naji was re-tried at a higher court and found guilty in February 2016, then sentenced to the maximum two-years in prison. Since then, Naji's case has been taken up by PEN International and high-profile novelists such as Zadie Smith have written in support. In December 2016, Naji's sentence was temporarily suspended and he was released from prison, subject to retrial. His case has captured the public interest, yet is indicative of more widespread suppression of free speech in the Arabic world. This paper analyses Ahmed Naji's trial in its socio-political context, considering the legal arguments, public discourse surrounding the case, and style of the translated except.