Browsing by Author "Winsley, Alexander"

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The Limits of Free Speech: Democratic Legitimacy in Canada and New Zealand
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2013-01-01) Winsley, Alexander
This paper explores the balancing act between freedom of expression and hate speech. It takes its cue from a recent dialogue between Ronald Dworkin and Jeremy Waldron concerning democratic legitimacy. This dialogue forms the conceptual starting point for the paper, and a detailed analysis of democratic principles will follow. Robert Post’s participatory theory of democracy is critiqued, and his recent conversion to democratic relativism is analysed. The operation of hate speech laws in Canada and New Zealand will both be assessed in order to see how both of these countries treat the issue of democratic legitimacy.
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The Wilde Trials in Fiction: The Law as a Tool of Oppression
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2012) Winsley, Alexander
This paper is an analysis of the three trials concerning Oscar Wilde as found in contemporary fiction. Looking at the Brian Gilbert’s film Wilde, Ken Hughes’s film The Trials of Oscar Wilde, and Moisés Kaufman’s play Gross Indecency, the law is found to be a tool of oppression in Victorian society. Upon further exploration, Michel Foucault’s discourses on the law and sexuality are discovered, including the “specification of individuals” and diagnosing homosexuality as an illness. The three fictional representations thus educate the audience by casting the law in a negative light.