Description
Book SynopsisWithout wholly or consistently unseating the idea that instinct marked the proper province of women, workers and/or savages, this shift in instinct’s appeal to civilized European men at the turn of the twentieth century nonetheless modified the governmentality of empire, labor, and gender.
Trade Review"The rational actor has long been considered the central figure of liberal subjectivity. In this intriguing book, which brings together queer theory and Victorian science studies, Kathleen Frederickson shows how nineteenth-century thinkers adopted instinct, rather than reason, as a desirable quality for the arts of governance. Counter-intuitive, surprising, and utterly convincing, The Ploy of Instinct is a refreshing addition to the intellectual history of liberalism." -- -Lisa Moore The University of Texas at Austin "A smart, rigorously researched and fascinating book that will be a rich contribution to Victorian Studies, sexuality and gender studies, and history of science scholarship." -- -Teresa Mangum University of Iowa
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. Reading Like an Animal 2. The Case of Sexology at Work 3. Freud's Australia 4. Angel in the Big House Coda Notes Bibliography Index
