THE NEW POLITICS OF PORNOGRAPHY <i> by Donald Alexander Downs (University of Chicago Press: $42, cloth; $14.95, paper; 266 pp.) </i>

The efforts to introduce anti-pornography legislation in recent years have taken the definition of pornography to new legal and political ground, argues Donald Alexander Downs in “The New Politics of Pornography.” The terms in which pornography and obscenity are discussed have shifted from moral issues to social and political ones. No longer seeking to locate an absolute quality of offensiveness or “obscenity,” supporters of anti-pornography legislation instead advocate suppression of objectionable material as a means of attacking the institutionalized oppression of women.

Downs focuses his discussion on the landmark 1983 anti-pornography ordinance passed by the Minneapolis City Council. The Minneapolis ordinance, which was used as the model for legislation in other cities, gained widespread support--and resulted in an unusual political alliance between conservatives and leftist feminists--by presenting pornography as a violation of women’s rights. This argument represented a radical departure in legal terms, as well as an extremely effective rallying point for political activism.

Downs interviewed many of the major actors in the Minneapolis debate and presents a detailed description of the practical politics that resulted in the bill’s passage. (It was later vetoed by the mayor on grounds that it violated the First Amendment.) He clearly supports the liberal interpretation of First Amendment law; moreover, he not only theoretically opposes the people who supported the Minneapolis ordinance but questions their tactics as well.

The author’s argument, however, does not take the American Civil Liberties Union approach to defend any and all curtailments of free speech. “To be sure, support for the ordinance did not in itself signal a lack of respect for free speech,” he writes. “While free speech is necessary to democracy, its extent and delimitation are open to debate and development.” To this end, he suggests in his final chapter a possible compromise: Focusing on the concern about sexual violence, Downs proposes a limited definition of offensive speech that might without undue harm be denied First Amendment protection.

Downs’ legal explanations require careful reading, but they are well worth the trouble. The discussion of free speech and censorship has become a central feature of our political life, and “The New Politics of Pornography” challenges our assumptions and analyzes the political implications of familiar arguments in the debate.