The Unacceptable

Confronting the issue of the unacceptable as a social category, this fascinating collection of international essays, now available in paperback, provides distinctive perspectives on the theme of what is deemed socially acceptable. The authors reveal the ways in which the category of the unacceptable reflects sexual, racial and political fault lines of a society, exploring fields including censorship, pornography, free speech and hate speech, moral panics, drug culture, social policy and power, fears surrounding
paedophilia and the family, gay marriage, childhood sexuality, smoking, and the representation of criminal or transgressive behaviour.

John Potts is Associate Professor in Media at Macquarie University, Australia. He is the author of A History of Charisma and Culture and Technology (with Andrew Murphie). He has published widely on media, digital technology, art history and intellectual history.

John Scannell is Lecturer in Media, Music, Communication and Cultural Studies at Macquarie University, Australia. He has published articles on popular music, new media, contemporary philosophy and cultural studies. He is the author of James Brown.

Notes on Contributors
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction: What is the Unacceptable?; J. Potts and J. Scannell
PART I: THE SOCIALLY UNACCEPTABLE
2. Power and the Unacceptable; M. Dean
3. 'Schooling Scandals!': Exploring the Necessity of Cultural Disgust; C. Haywood
4. Presumed Innocent: Picturing Childhood; C. Lumby
5. The Sombrero Comes Out of the Closet: Gay Marriage in Mexico City and a Nation's Struggle for Identity; S. Ballina
6. The Drug Cultures in France and the Netherlands (1960s-1980s): Banning or Regulating the 'Unacceptable'; A. Marchant
7. 'When the Smoke Clears': Confronting Smoking Policy; J. Scannell
PART II: REPRESENTING THE UNACCEPTABLE
8. The Monstrous-Familial: Representations of the Unacceptable Family; J. Potts
9. Unacceptability and Prosaic Life in Breaking Bad; E. Logan
10. Sade's Constrained Libertinage: The Problem of Disgust; N. Stekelenburg
11. Censorship in Performance in America: Freedom of Expression Has Limitations; T. R. Wilson
12. Why Saying 'No' to Life is Unacceptable; C. Colebrook
Index