Thesis advisor: Christopher J. Kelly / This dissertation aims to understand the origins, effects, and limits of commerce in the modern world, taking Montesquieu as a guide in The Spirit of the Laws. It asks: To what extent is commerce natural, and how does commerce shape or constrain our understanding of happiness? I consider the extent to which commerce changes our nature, how it effects this change, and why it might fail to effect this change universally or permanently. Finally, I give an account of the best remedies or solutions for the problems we necessarily encounter in free commercial societies. We moderns are superior to the ancients, Montesquieu claims, on account of the knowledge we have gained concerning commerce. I argue that this epistemic superiority consists in knowledge concerning the best arrangement between the two sexes: “a kind of equality between the two sexes” that attaches men for the first time to “commerce with women.” Against standard readings that put forth political liberty or moderation as Montesquieu’s standard of the good in The Spirit of the Laws, I argue that Montesquieu also points to equality between the sexes as an alternative standard of the good. To show why and how his idea of sexual equality emerges with commerce, I begin by examining the natural origins of modern commerce. Modern commerce originates in the diversity of non-human nature, or a diversity of climates; so I begin by arguing that climate, Montesquieu’s new understanding of nature, is the natural basis of modern commerce. After elaborating on this new natural philosophy, I show how commerce, amidst this nonhuman natural diversity, paradoxically results in human uniformity or homogeneity: “everywhere there is commerce, there are gentle mores.” Commerce revolutionizes our mores by appealing to human flexibility and the ease of changing manners and mores rather than laws. Commerce does not result in a political universalism but a consensus concerning the most desirable sexual mores. Equality between the sexes is introduced by nature (as an accident of the physical environment), but a moral consensus only emerges through “history”: by comparing mores across time and place we see which mores are most desirable. However, neither reason nor passion is sufficient to secure these mores. Only by unleashing the imagination can we introduce equality between the sexes and attach men to “commerce with women” not by love itself, but by the “illusions” and “accessories” of love. The nature and history of commerce show, however, the limits of this human flexibility and this new standard. After all, why does sexual inequality persist, not least in despotisms and republics? On the one hand, humans are not only flexible and imaginative but also inflexible and attached to virtue in accord with “pure mores.” On the other hand, commerce is not, in fact, necessarily accompanied by gentle mores (and the luxury and vanity that accompany these mores): in contradistinction to “commerce of luxury,” “economic commerce” depends less on the imagination than on reason. These two alternatives (the life of virtue and that of economic commerce) not only show the limits of universalizing this new morality rooted in sexual equality but also clarify the challenges of reconciling the realms of domestic and political governance, or commerce at home with commerce abroad. Nonetheless, anyone unwilling or unable to retreat from the “worldliness” of modern commerce or insufficiently lucky to be born in a commercial republic should heed Montesquieu’s advice for how best to live rationally and freely in commercial societies. Thus I turn to his solutions for how to reconcile an openness to human diversity and strangers (as commerce consists of communication among diverse peoples) with a preservation of natural differences and “strength.” By conceiving of gentleness as a political virtue and cultivating a conventional form of jealousy, we can reconcile the demands of commerce with those of the virtue of humanity properly understood. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science.

Baigiamajame magistro darbe pateiktos užimtumą apibūdinančios sąvokos ir gyventojų užimtumo kitimo priklausomybė nuo gamybinių jėgų išsivystymo lygio, ekonominių-socialinių ir politinių veiksnių, taip pat analizuojama diskriminacija ir lyčių padėtis darbo rinkoje. Baigiamajame darbe nagrinėjamos moterų užimtumo problemos Lietuvoje ir trumpai apžvelgiamas moterų užimtumas Europos Sąjungoje. Nustatytos pagrindinės moterų užimtumo problemos ir jas lemiantys veiksniai. Pateikti galimi nustatytų priežasčių mažinimo būdai. Atlikus sociologinę apklausą, darbo pabaigoje pateiktas moterų užimtumo didinimo Lietuvoje principinis modelis. Išnagrinėjus teorinius ir praktinius užimtumo aspektus, pabaigoje pateikiamos išvados ir siūlymai. / The bachelor theses describe the notions of business and how residents businesses depend on relations of production development, economics, socials and political factors. The theses also analyse the discrimination and sexual equality at work. The bachelor theses describe the problems of women business in Lithuania and European Union. The reasons of the problems, women face in business, are specified and the way to reduce them is described. Furthermore, the model of women busyness in Lithuania was created in refer to sociological research. Finally, the conclusions and suggestions are drawn.

A pornogra a foi apresentada como problema político por uma ramificação anti-porn do feminismo no final dos anos 1970 nos EUA. Esse grupo rompeu com o feminismo liberal e com perspectivas liberais de igualdade sexual ao tratar radicalmente a excitação sexual masculina como uma forma de subordinação da mulher e discriminação sexual, dadas condições específicas sob as quais a excitação era concebida como danosa. Mas essas condições, do modo como foram definidas por esse grupo, eram muito amplas. Quando interpretadas, poderiam ir de situações de tortura e estupro reais até a leitura da Ilíada. Essa definição foi codificada em lei por Catherine MacKinnon nos anos 1980, mas rejeitada pela Suprema Corte como tentativa de censura de conteúdo, uma violação da liberdade de expressão. Da perspectiva anti-porn, a Suprema Corte decidiu que a liberdade de expressão era superior a igualdade sexual, e que a pornogra a poderia continuar a subordinar as mulheres aos homens. O problema político que encontramos aqui e o problema de como equilibrar liberdade e igualdade, de modo que as pessoas sejam tratadas com igualdade sem ter sua liberdade violada. Apresentamos uma crítica liberal, de Ronald Dworkin, a posição anti-porn. Ela é uma defesa singular da pornografia, pois não apela a liberdade de expressão, mas sim ao próprio direito a igualdade A pornografia é defendida como um importante modo de vida para muitas pessoas que têm diferentes perspectivas sobre o valor e o significado da prática pornográfica. Elas têm um direito a independência moral, que a definição anti-porn de pornografia viola, pois tenta atribuir tanto o valor como o sentido da prática sem consideração pelos valores e sentidos que pessoas de fato envolvidas na pornografia dão a ela. A liberdade de expressãoé concebida como necessária a esse processo de dar valor e sentido a uma atividade. Segundo essa concepção, liberdade não conflita com igualdade, porque, para que sejam tratadas com igualdade, as pessoas devem ser livres para expressar, atrav es de suas vidas, diferentes valores e sentidos, que por sua vez devem ser respeitados em decisões políticas que as afetam. A posição liberal deixa aberta a possibilidade de reformar a pornografia, de as pessoas reinventarem a pornografia do modo como for adequado as suas vidas em sua presente situação, enquanto a anti-porn não deixa, pois concebe a pornografia de um modo unico e fixo. A principal critica liberal da posição anti-porn, portanto, nãoé sobre seu conteúdo, sobre o que feministas anti-porn dizem que a pornografia seja ou faça, mas ao modo como elas tratam as pessoas, que é sem respeito pelo sentido de suas atividades e pelo valor que estão tentando dar as suas vidas através da pornografia. / Pornography was introduced as a political problem by the anti-porn branch of feminism in the late 1970's in the USA. This group broke with liberal feminism and liberal perspectives on sexual equality when they radically treated male sexual excitement as a form of women subordination and sex discrimination, given speci c conditions under which the excitement was conceived as harmful. But those conditions, the way they were de ned by this group, were very broad. When interpreted, they could go from actual situations of torture and rape to the reading of the Iliad. This de nition was codi ed into law by Catherine MacKinnon in the 1980's but rejected by the Supreme Court as an attempt of content censorship, a violation of freedom of expression. From the anti-porn perspective, the Supreme Court decided that freedom of speech was superior to sex equality, and that pornography could continue to subordinate women to men. The political problem that we nd here is the problem of how to balance liberty and equality, so that people can be treated with equality while not having their freedom violated. We present a liberal critique, by Ronald Dworkin, of the anti-porn position. It's a singular defense of pornography, as it does not call for freedom of expression but for the right to equality itself. Pornography is defended as an important way of life for many people that have di erent perspectives on the value and meaning of the pornographic practice They have a right to moral independence, which the anti-porn de nition of pornography violates as it tries to give both the value and the meaning of the practice without concern for the value and meaning people actually involved in pornography give to it. Freedom of expression is conceived as necessary for this process of giving value and meaning to an activity. In that sense, liberty does not con ict with equality, because for people to be treated with equality they should be free to express, through their lives, di erent values and meanings, which in turn should be respected in political decisions a ecting them. The liberal position leaves open the possibility to reform pornography, for people to reinvent pornography as they see t for their lives in their present situation, which the anti-porn does not, since it conceives pornography in a single and xed way. The main liberal critique of the anti-porn position, thus, is not about it's content, about what anti-porn feminists say pornography is or what pornography does, but the way they treat people, which is without respect for the meaning of their actvity and the value they are trying to give to their lives through pornography.

A pornogra a foi apresentada como problema político por uma ramificação anti-porn do feminismo no final dos anos 1970 nos EUA. Esse grupo rompeu com o feminismo liberal e com perspectivas liberais de igualdade sexual ao tratar radicalmente a excitação sexual masculina como uma forma de subordinação da mulher e discriminação sexual, dadas condições específicas sob as quais a excitação era concebida como danosa. Mas essas condições, do modo como foram definidas por esse grupo, eram muito amplas. Quando interpretadas, poderiam ir de situações de tortura e estupro reais até a leitura da Ilíada. Essa definição foi codificada em lei por Catherine MacKinnon nos anos 1980, mas rejeitada pela Suprema Corte como tentativa de censura de conteúdo, uma violação da liberdade de expressão. Da perspectiva anti-porn, a Suprema Corte decidiu que a liberdade de expressão era superior a igualdade sexual, e que a pornogra a poderia continuar a subordinar as mulheres aos homens. O problema político que encontramos aqui e o problema de como equilibrar liberdade e igualdade, de modo que as pessoas sejam tratadas com igualdade sem ter sua liberdade violada. Apresentamos uma crítica liberal, de Ronald Dworkin, a posição anti-porn. Ela é uma defesa singular da pornografia, pois não apela a liberdade de expressão, mas sim ao próprio direito a igualdade A pornografia é defendida como um importante modo de vida para muitas pessoas que têm diferentes perspectivas sobre o valor e o significado da prática pornográfica. Elas têm um direito a independência moral, que a definição anti-porn de pornografia viola, pois tenta atribuir tanto o valor como o sentido da prática sem consideração pelos valores e sentidos que pessoas de fato envolvidas na pornografia dão a ela. A liberdade de expressãoé concebida como necessária a esse processo de dar valor e sentido a uma atividade. Segundo essa concepção, liberdade não conflita com igualdade, porque, para que sejam tratadas com igualdade, as pessoas devem ser livres para expressar, atrav es de suas vidas, diferentes valores e sentidos, que por sua vez devem ser respeitados em decisões políticas que as afetam. A posição liberal deixa aberta a possibilidade de reformar a pornografia, de as pessoas reinventarem a pornografia do modo como for adequado as suas vidas em sua presente situação, enquanto a anti-porn não deixa, pois concebe a pornografia de um modo unico e fixo. A principal critica liberal da posição anti-porn, portanto, nãoé sobre seu conteúdo, sobre o que feministas anti-porn dizem que a pornografia seja ou faça, mas ao modo como elas tratam as pessoas, que é sem respeito pelo sentido de suas atividades e pelo valor que estão tentando dar as suas vidas através da pornografia. / Pornography was introduced as a political problem by the anti-porn branch of feminism in the late 1970's in the USA. This group broke with liberal feminism and liberal perspectives on sexual equality when they radically treated male sexual excitement as a form of women subordination and sex discrimination, given speci c conditions under which the excitement was conceived as harmful. But those conditions, the way they were de ned by this group, were very broad. When interpreted, they could go from actual situations of torture and rape to the reading of the Iliad. This de nition was codi ed into law by Catherine MacKinnon in the 1980's but rejected by the Supreme Court as an attempt of content censorship, a violation of freedom of expression. From the anti-porn perspective, the Supreme Court decided that freedom of speech was superior to sex equality, and that pornography could continue to subordinate women to men. The political problem that we nd here is the problem of how to balance liberty and equality, so that people can be treated with equality while not having their freedom violated. We present a liberal critique, by Ronald Dworkin, of the anti-porn position. It's a singular defense of pornography, as it does not call for freedom of expression but for the right to equality itself. Pornography is defended as an important way of life for many people that have di erent perspectives on the value and meaning of the pornographic practice They have a right to moral independence, which the anti-porn de nition of pornography violates as it tries to give both the value and the meaning of the practice without concern for the value and meaning people actually involved in pornography give to it. Freedom of expression is conceived as necessary for this process of giving value and meaning to an activity. In that sense, liberty does not con ict with equality, because for people to be treated with equality they should be free to express, through their lives, di erent values and meanings, which in turn should be respected in political decisions a ecting them. The liberal position leaves open the possibility to reform pornography, for people to reinvent pornography as they see t for their lives in their present situation, which the anti-porn does not, since it conceives pornography in a single and xed way. The main liberal critique of the anti-porn position, thus, is not about it's content, about what anti-porn feminists say pornography is or what pornography does, but the way they treat people, which is without respect for the meaning of their actvity and the value they are trying to give to their lives through pornography.

A pornogra a foi apresentada como problema político por uma ramificação anti-porn do feminismo no final dos anos 1970 nos EUA. Esse grupo rompeu com o feminismo liberal e com perspectivas liberais de igualdade sexual ao tratar radicalmente a excitação sexual masculina como uma forma de subordinação da mulher e discriminação sexual, dadas condições específicas sob as quais a excitação era concebida como danosa. Mas essas condições, do modo como foram definidas por esse grupo, eram muito amplas. Quando interpretadas, poderiam ir de situações de tortura e estupro reais até a leitura da Ilíada. Essa definição foi codificada em lei por Catherine MacKinnon nos anos 1980, mas rejeitada pela Suprema Corte como tentativa de censura de conteúdo, uma violação da liberdade de expressão. Da perspectiva anti-porn, a Suprema Corte decidiu que a liberdade de expressão era superior a igualdade sexual, e que a pornogra a poderia continuar a subordinar as mulheres aos homens. O problema político que encontramos aqui e o problema de como equilibrar liberdade e igualdade, de modo que as pessoas sejam tratadas com igualdade sem ter sua liberdade violada. Apresentamos uma crítica liberal, de Ronald Dworkin, a posição anti-porn. Ela é uma defesa singular da pornografia, pois não apela a liberdade de expressão, mas sim ao próprio direito a igualdade A pornografia é defendida como um importante modo de vida para muitas pessoas que têm diferentes perspectivas sobre o valor e o significado da prática pornográfica. Elas têm um direito a independência moral, que a definição anti-porn de pornografia viola, pois tenta atribuir tanto o valor como o sentido da prática sem consideração pelos valores e sentidos que pessoas de fato envolvidas na pornografia dão a ela. A liberdade de expressãoé concebida como necessária a esse processo de dar valor e sentido a uma atividade. Segundo essa concepção, liberdade não conflita com igualdade, porque, para que sejam tratadas com igualdade, as pessoas devem ser livres para expressar, atrav es de suas vidas, diferentes valores e sentidos, que por sua vez devem ser respeitados em decisões políticas que as afetam. A posição liberal deixa aberta a possibilidade de reformar a pornografia, de as pessoas reinventarem a pornografia do modo como for adequado as suas vidas em sua presente situação, enquanto a anti-porn não deixa, pois concebe a pornografia de um modo unico e fixo. A principal critica liberal da posição anti-porn, portanto, nãoé sobre seu conteúdo, sobre o que feministas anti-porn dizem que a pornografia seja ou faça, mas ao modo como elas tratam as pessoas, que é sem respeito pelo sentido de suas atividades e pelo valor que estão tentando dar as suas vidas através da pornografia. / Pornography was introduced as a political problem by the anti-porn branch of feminism in the late 1970's in the USA. This group broke with liberal feminism and liberal perspectives on sexual equality when they radically treated male sexual excitement as a form of women subordination and sex discrimination, given speci c conditions under which the excitement was conceived as harmful. But those conditions, the way they were de ned by this group, were very broad. When interpreted, they could go from actual situations of torture and rape to the reading of the Iliad. This de nition was codi ed into law by Catherine MacKinnon in the 1980's but rejected by the Supreme Court as an attempt of content censorship, a violation of freedom of expression. From the anti-porn perspective, the Supreme Court decided that freedom of speech was superior to sex equality, and that pornography could continue to subordinate women to men. The political problem that we nd here is the problem of how to balance liberty and equality, so that people can be treated with equality while not having their freedom violated. We present a liberal critique, by Ronald Dworkin, of the anti-porn position. It's a singular defense of pornography, as it does not call for freedom of expression but for the right to equality itself. Pornography is defended as an important way of life for many people that have di erent perspectives on the value and meaning of the pornographic practice They have a right to moral independence, which the anti-porn de nition of pornography violates as it tries to give both the value and the meaning of the practice without concern for the value and meaning people actually involved in pornography give to it. Freedom of expression is conceived as necessary for this process of giving value and meaning to an activity. In that sense, liberty does not con ict with equality, because for people to be treated with equality they should be free to express, through their lives, di erent values and meanings, which in turn should be respected in political decisions a ecting them. The liberal position leaves open the possibility to reform pornography, for people to reinvent pornography as they see t for their lives in their present situation, which the anti-porn does not, since it conceives pornography in a single and xed way. The main liberal critique of the anti-porn position, thus, is not about it's content, about what anti-porn feminists say pornography is or what pornography does, but the way they treat people, which is without respect for the meaning of their actvity and the value they are trying to give to their lives through pornography.

This thesis examines the beginning of Victoria, British Columbia’s, women’s movement, stretching its ‘start’ date to the late 1850s while arguing that, to some extent, the local movement criss-crossed racial, ethnic, religious, and gender boundaries. It also highlights how the people involved with the women’s movement in Victoria challenged traditional beliefs, like separate sphere ideology, about women’s position in society and contributed to the introduction of new more egalitarian views of women in a process that continues to the present day. Chapter One challenges current understandings of First Wave Feminism, stretching its limitations regarding time and persons involved with social reform and women’s rights goals, while showing that the issue of ‘suffrage’ alone did not make a ‘women’s movement’. Chapter 2 focuses on how the local ‘women’s movement’ coalesced and expanded in the late 1890s to embrace various social reform causes and demands for women’s rights and recognition, it reflected a unique spirit that emanated from Victorian traditionalism, skewed gender ratios, and a frontier mentality. Chapter 3 argues that an examination of Victoria’s movement, like any other ‘women’s movement’, must take into consideration the ethnic and racialized ‘other’, in this thesis the Indigenous, African Canadian, and Chinese. The Conclusion discusses areas for future research, deeper research questions, and raises the question about whether the women’s movement in Victoria was successful. / Graduate / 0334 / 0733 / 0631 / mlihmels@shaw.ca