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| Document Type: | Book |
|---|---|
| All Authors / Contributors: |
Stefan Vogler |
| ISBN: | 9780226776767 022677676X 9780226769165 022676916X |
| OCLC Number: | 1257250284 |
| Accession No: | (DE-627)1740943740 (DE-599)KXP1740943740 (OCoLC)1257250284 |
| Description: | 276 Seiten |
| Contents: | Introduction 1: Kissing Cousins: Queerness, Crime, and the Politics of Knowing 2: Seeing Sexuality Like a State 3: Forensic Psychology, Complicit Expertise, and the Legitimation of Law 4: Insurgent Expertise and the Hybrid Network of LGBTQ Asylum 5: Asylum Seekers and Signs of Queerness 6: Sex Offenders and the Detection of Deviance 7: Queer Subjects and the Construction of Risky Countries 8: Sexual Predators and the Constitution of Dangerous Individuals Conclusion: Sexuality, Science, and Citizenship in the Twenty-First Century Acknowledgments Appendix 1: Static-99R Coding Form Appendix 2: Methodology Notes References Index |
| Responsibility: | Stefan Vogler. |
| More information: |
Abstract:
"This book braves a juxtaposition that might at first raise some eyebrows. Sorting Sexualities examines the legal management of sex offenders in sexually violent predator (SVP) trials alongside that of LGBTQ people seeking asylum from persecution in their home countries. Though these legal settings are diametrically opposed-one a punitive assessment, the other a protective one-they present a similar and telling conundrum: how do we know someone's sexuality? In both cases, state institutions are tasked with determining subjects' "true" sexualities, measuring the degree and type of "underlying deviance," and sorting the queer from the fraudulent. Stefan Vogler examines how and why the measurement and classification techniques that have emerged as a guide have come to diverge so dramatically. By delving into the histories behind these classification practices and analyzing their impact, Vogler shows how the science of sexuality is far more central to state power than we realize. Through legal analysis, interviews, and multi-sited ethnography, he examines how the state enrolls non-state experts-typically anthropologists, sociologists, and lawyers in asylum pleas, and psychiatrists and forensic psychologists in SVP trials-to help craft classificatory schemas that render sexual "others" legible to and thus manageable by the state. These classifications have led to the extension of rights for LGBTQ people, on the one hand, and the escalation of punishment for sex criminals, on the other"
Reviews
Publisher Synopsis
"What emerges from Vogler's detailed study of the various materials related to these two legal classification systems is an impressive constructionist story about how law and psychology, medicine, and science operate together to create, reify, and maintain systems of sexual classification. . . . This book makes important contributions to the sociology of scientific and social-scientific knowledge and the sociology of legal knowledge generally by charting the divergence of these two quite distinct legal and scientific classifications of sexuality. For this reason, among others, Sorting Sexuality deserves a very broad readership." * Law & Society Review * "[A] complex, captivating exploration of sexual identity and the law. . . . This is a truly fascinating and eye-opening book, richly researched and engaging. . . . Highly recommended." * Choice * "This is a study of state classification of LGBTQ people seeking asylum in the US and sexual offenders being evaluated for carceral placement-two situations where state actors must determine individuals' sexualities. Though these legal settings are diametrically opposed-one a punitive assessment, the other a protective one-they present the same question. Vogler finds that different legal arenas take dramatically different approaches to classifying sexuality and use those classifications to legitimate different forms of social control. He concludes that the science of sexuality is far more central to state power than we realize." * Law & Social Inquiry * "Sorting Sexualities is a wonderful big-picture book, superbly researched and subtly theorized. It is an original and timely contribution to legal studies, social studies of science, and sexuality studies. We have many good monographs on the legal regulation of a single sexual minority at a point in time. But by comparing and contrasting what counts as legal evidence for different purposes, Vogler's ambitious study shows that both the law and the science of sexuality are highly fragmented." -- Mariana Valverde, University of Toronto "This is brilliant stuff. The book is helpful in thinking through the way the state views categories, knowledge, and classificatory systems. It is satisfying in the best ways: I've read it twice and want to return to it-I continue to want to think about it. It is an excellent piece of scholarship that makes novel claims regarding state power, sexuality, identity, and expertise-and will push scholarship in those areas forward. Absolutely fascinating." -- Renee Cramer, Drake University "A fantastic achievement. Virtually unparalleled in scope, evidence, and analytic precision, Vogler has cut through the scientific and legal discourse surrounding two confounding subjects of the twenty-first century: the LGBTQ asylee and the sex offender. Unafraid to make dangerous comparisons or ask disquieting questions about the production of sexual natures, Vogler has exposed a vast network of social actors, technologies, knowledge-production practices, and subject-producing institutions that have broad implications for how sexualities are made and remade across registers of society. This book will be a classic of STS, queer, and critical legal studies." -- Patrick R. Grzanka, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Read more...
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Related Subjects:(18)
- Sex and law -- United States.
- Sexual minorities -- Classification -- Social aspects -- United States.
- Gay political refugees -- United States.
- Sex offenders -- United States.
- Classification -- Social aspects -- United States.
- Evidence, Expert -- United States.
- Justice, Administration of -- United States.
- Sexualité et droit -- États-Unis.
- Minorités sexuelles -- Classification -- Aspect social -- États-Unis.
- Délinquants sexuels -- États-Unis.
- Classification -- Aspect social -- États-Unis.
- Expertises -- États-Unis.
- Evidence, Expert.
- Gay political refugees.
- Justice, Administration of.
- Sex and law.
- Sex offenders.
- United States.
