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Sex, politics, and social change in the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries: evidence from the Swiss Alps.
Journal article

Sex, politics, and social change in the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries: evidence from the Swiss Alps.

  • 2011-10-08
Published in:
  • Journal of family history. - 2011
Demography
Empirical Research
Family
Family Characteristics
History, 18th Century
History, 19th Century
Humans
Illegitimacy
Marital Status
Politics
Population Groups
Sexuality
Social Change
Switzerland
English The eighteenth-century "sexual revolution" cannot simply be explained as a consequence of economic or institutional factors -- industrialization, agricultural revolution, secularization, or legal hindrances to marriages. The example of western Valais (Switzerland) shows that we have to deal with a complex configuration of factors. The micro-historical approach reveals that in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century sexuality -- and above all illicit sexuality -- was a highly subversive force that was considerably linked to political innovation and probably more generally to historical change. Nonmarital sexuality was clearly tied to political dissent and to innovative ways of behavior, both among the social elites and the common people. This behavior patterns influenced crucial evolutions in the social, cultural, and economic history of the region.
Language
  • English
Open access status
closed
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/46309
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