Sexuality is hotly contested in the 1990s.
There are battles over lesbian and gay rights, over same sex
benefits, over sexuality education for young people, over the
needs of people living with AIDS and the need to engage in safer
sex, and over struggles against sexual violence against women.
Sexual relations have become a major terrain of social and
political struggle.
In this second edition of the Regulation of Desire, Kinsman traces the historical and social roots of these contemporary conflicts, offers insights into the social forces that have organized and maintained lesbian and gay oppression, and pinpoints allies for building coalitions that could allow us to gain more control over our bodies and sexualities, and to build a world free of sexual violence and danger. He suggests moving towards very different criteria for organizing and regulating sexuality, desire and pleasure, and concludes with suggestions on how sexual politics can transform socialist politics.
Kinsman imaginatively relates the production of sexual
discourses to the power of modern state.
Gender & History
Valuable for its research into an important history that has
invariably been overlooked or dismissed out of hand.
Books in Canada
Penetrating. The historical perspective serves as a very
useful tool.
Globe and Mail
Once in awhile a books come along that asks entirely new
questions, poses important theoretical issues, opens a whole new
filed for historical investigation. The Regulation of Desire has
done just that.
Labour/Le Travail
Should be read by all those interested in the history and
sociology of sexuality.
Canadian Woman Studies
A substantial contribution to our understanding of the
politics of same-gender sexual relations.
Fuse
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
PART I Finding a Place to Begin
1. The Creation of Homosexuality as a Social Problem 2. The
Historical Emergence of Homosexualities and Heterosexualities:
Social Relations, Sexual Rule and SexualResistance
PART II Toward a Queer View of Canadian History
3. Sexualities in Canadian History Problems of Sources and
Interpretation 4. Sexual Colonization of the Indigenous Peoples
5. Buggery and Sodomy in New France, Upper Canada, and the West
6. These Things May Lead to the Tragedy of Our Species¦:
TheEmergence of Homosexuality, Lesbianism, and Heterosexuality in
Canada 7. World War II, Coming Out and Constructing Homosexuality
as a National, Social, and Sexual Danger 8. The Struggle for Law
Reform 9. Gay/Lesbian Liberation andCommunities 10. Danger
Signals: Moral Conservativism, the Straight Media, the Sex
Police, and AIDS 11. From Resistance to Liberation
Gary Kinsman is a gay liberation, AIDS and socialist activist. He is author of numerous book chapters and articles on sexual and gender politics. He holds a PhD from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and is currently teaching sociology at Laurentian University in Sudbury.
250 pages
Paperback ISBN: 1-551640-40-6 $19.99
Hardcover ISBN: 1-551640-41-4 $48.99