Emancipating Sexuality: Breakthroughs into a Bulwark of Tradition

Amy C. Alexander (), Ronald Inglehart () and Christian Welzel ()
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Amy C. Alexander: University of Gothenburg
Ronald Inglehart: University of Michigan
Christian Welzel: National Research University-Higher School of Economics

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2016, vol. 129, issue 2, No 23, 909-935

Abstract: Abstract This article presents evidence for a rising emancipatory spirit, across generations and around the world, in a life domain in which religion hitherto blocked emancipatory gains: sexual freedoms. We propose an explanation of rising emancipative values that integrates several approaches into a single idea—the utility ladder of freedoms. Specifically, we suggest that objectively improving living conditions—from rising life expectancies to broader education—transform the nature of life from a source of threats into a source of opportunities. As life begins to hold more promise for increasing population segments, societies climb the utility ladder of freedoms: practicing and respecting universal freedoms becomes increasingly vital to take advantage of rising life opportunities. This trend has begun to spill over into a life domain in which religious norms have until recently been able to resist emancipatory gains: sexual freedoms. We present (1) crossnational, (2) longitudinal, (3) generational and (4) multilevel evidence on an unprecedentedly broad basis in support of this theory.

Keywords: Cultural change; Economic development; Emancipation; Emancipative values; Existential opportunities; Fertility norms; Freedom ladder; Life quality; Moral evolution; Religion; Secular values; Sexual liberation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11205-015-1137-9

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