Description
Book SynopsisOver the last thirty years in the West, there has been enormous change in social and state acceptance regarding sex and sexualities, with an apparent new acceptance and openness towards diverse sexual practices and sexualities. Much of this change has come about through community claims for rights grounded in critical social theory and the language of citizenship. While accepting that much of the critique has been valuable in advancing rights for sexual minorities, Sexual Citizenship and Social Change argues that the mode of critique itself may become problematic. Examining the use and abuse of critique in contemporary sexuality scholarship and associated activism, Darren Langdridge implicates a particular form of critique that is detached, unfettered, and set loose from the usual anchor of tradition. Even the most ostensibly well-meaning critic--and associated critique--can become problematic when their arguments are detached from tradition. Further, the book shows that this unrestrai
Trade ReviewThis is a profoundly significant book: timely and brave. Langdridge demonstrates precisely why courage is needed to discuss rationally the current state of sexuality and gender politics. His call for balancing critique with tradition may properly be seen as a necessary-and a counterintuitively radical-position in our contemporary context." -Lisa Downing, University of Birmingham, and author of Selfish Women
