This is a thread on our new book & #39;TERF Wars: Feminism and the fight for transgender futures& #39;, where I& #39;ll say a bit about the context behind it, the format (for those who might not know the weird details of academic publishing), and the contents.
Back in 2018 I was invited to review a particular book - which I won& #39;t name - but which was extraordinarily hostile to trans people.
The contents frustrated me so much I decided that something approximating the & #39;opposite book& #39; needed to exist. I reached out to @SonjaErikainen and @NotRightRuth, and we never looked back.
TERF Wars is published with what is called & #39;dual status& #39;. It is published as both a peer-reviewed special issue of the journal @TheSocReview, AND as a £10 paperback as part of their Monograph Series, published by Sage.
Getting accepted for the monograph series is competitive. I& #39;m personally delighted that such a highly respected journal has recognised the importance of scrutinising anti-trans moral panic as a sociological phenomenon.
The collection begins with an introduction by @NotRightRuth , @SonjaErikainen and myself (the author order is different for this chapter than the collection - I& #39;m first editor, but third author here!).
We contextualise the phenomenon of trans-exclusionary political views and introduce the collection, talking about the GRA, science, the & #39;post-truth& #39; era, and much more.
Next is @sally_hines with & #39;Sex wars and (trans) gender panics: Identity and body politics in contemporary UK feminism. This is a powerful orienting chapter that speaks to the conceptualisation of sex and gender in feminist scholarship, so as to understand TERF emergence.
@cristanwilliams wrote & #39;The ontological woman: A history of deauthentication, dehumanization, and violence& #39;. This brings in more US-based history of radical feminism, reminding that rad fem can also be trans-inclusive, but TERF worldviews objectify through their ontology.
We are delighted that the collection contains a reprint of @emikoyama& #39;s classic essay & #39;Whose feminism is it anyway? The unspoken racism of the trans inclusion debate& #39;, first published in 2000 (and available with much other powerful work at http://eminism.org"> http://eminism.org ).
Next by María Victoria Carrera-Fernández and Renée DePalma is & #39;Feminism will be transinclusive or it will not be: Why do two cis-hetero woman educators support transfeminism?& #39; - transphobia within education is a major problem, and I& #39;m grateful for their perspectives here.
We then have the incredible @JuliaSerano with & #39;Autogynephilia: A scientific review, feminist analysis, and
alternative ‘embodiment fantasies’ model& #39;, building and expanding on her previous work debunking this deeply flawed framework for understanding trans sexuality.
Next is @ButNotTheCity who contributed & #39;A critical commentary on ‘rapid-onset gender dysphoria’& #39;, adding to an important and growing body of literature that shines a light on the pernicious notion of social contagion.
We then have @rowan_hc with & #39;More than ‘canaries in
the gender coal mine’: A transfeminist approach to research on detransition& #39;. This is such an important piece; it unpacks detransitioning, identity, negative transition experiences. Supporting detransitioners is vital.
@Obsqueer then gives us & #39;Disregard and danger:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and the voices of trans (and cis) African feminists& #39; which addresses the argument that trans women experience male privilege. The piece amplifies the voices of African women who many of us do not hear enough.
We then have @jenslater_ and @Charlotte_Sheff with & #39;The toilet debate: Stalling trans possibilities and defending ‘women’s protected spaces’& #39;, brilliantly drawing on data from the AHRC-funded research project & #39;Around the Toilet& #39;. And the pun in the title is top tier.
Giving an incredible perspective from Brazil, Lua da Mota Stabile& #39;s & #39;Sex work abolitionism and hegemonic feminisms:
Implications for gender-diverse sex workers and migrants from Brazil& #39; highlights the importance of decolonialism and intersectional analysis for trans feminism.
Our last contribution is from Jay Bernard with & #39;The transfeminist and the liberal institution: A love story& #39;, which critically reflects on organising the event & #39;RadFem/Trans: A Love Story& #39; at BFI Flare 2018. It looks to a better future.
We then have an afterword (again by @NotRightRuth, @SonjaErikainen , and me) & #39;TERF wars in the time of COVID-19& #39;. While much of this work was done before the pandemic, we needed to speak to the times, given their profound global significance. We end with a note of hope.
You can follow @GenderBen.
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