Abstinence Politics and the Christian Right
38 Pages Posted: 29 Mar 2010 Last revised: 9 Jun 2010
Date Written: April 11, 2010
Abstract
This project studies the agenda and goals of the abstinence movement at this critical juncture in its history, analyzing the movement's continuing efforts to redefine sexuality and promote abstinence in US culture. The abstinence movement is in a state of flux; as federal funding disappears under the Obama Administration and as the movement's elite allies from the Bush Administration lose power, abstinence advocates increasingly are forced to participate politically as a social movement. That is, almost overnight these organizations have lost many of their connections to institutionalized political power and have been weakened relative to their position from 1996 to 2008. This paper analyzes the movement's efforts to galvanize its constituency and to demand cultural change via extra-institutional channels. Particularly because many of the single-issue abstinence organizations are relatively new, however, it is unclear which direction the movement will take. Abstinence advocates could intensify ties to the Republican Party, becoming more institutionalized and willing to compromise, or likely to define abstinence in the context of wise public health policy rather than in terms of Christian purity. Or abstinence advocates may focus on extra-institutional politics, becoming stronger as a social movement and perhaps even following the trajectory of radical elements of the pro-life movement.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation