Revised and Expanded Edition
Wait-what's wrong with rights? It is usually assumed that trans and gender nonconforming people should follow the civil rights and "equality" strategies of lesbian and gay rights organizations by agitating for legal reforms that would ostensibly guarantee nondiscrimination and equal protection under the law. This approach assumes that the best way to address the poverty and criminalization that plague trans populations is to gain legal recognition and inclusion in the state's institutions. But is this strategy effective?
In Normal Life Dean Spade presents revelatory critiques of the legal equality framework for social change, and points to examples of transformative grassroots trans activism that is raising demands that go beyond traditional civil rights reforms. Spade explodes assumptions about what legal rights can do for marginalized populations, and describes transformative resistance processes and formations that address the root causes of harm and violence.
In the new afterword to this revised and expanded edition, Spade notes the rapid mainstreaming of trans politics and finds that his predictions that gaining legal recognition will fail to benefit trans populations are coming to fruition. Spade examines recent efforts by the Obama administration and trans equality advocates to "pinkwash" state violence by articulating the US military and prison systems as sites for trans inclusion reforms. In the context of recent increased mainstream visibility of trans people and trans politics, Spade continues to advocate for the dismantling of systems of state violence that shorten the lives of trans people. Now more than ever, Normal Life is an urgent call for justice and trans liberation, and the radical transformations it will require.
Revised and Expanded Edition
Wait-what's wrong with rights? It is usually assumed that trans and gender nonconforming people should follow the civil rights and "equality" strategies of lesbian and gay rights organizations by agitating for legal reforms that would ostensibly guarantee nondiscrimination and equal protection under the law. This approach assumes that the best way to address the poverty and criminalization that plague trans populations is to gain legal recognition and inclusion in the state's institutions. But is this strategy effective?
In Normal Life Dean Spade presents revelatory critiques of the legal equality framework for social change, and points to examples of transformative grassroots trans activism that is raising demands that go beyond traditional civil rights reforms. Spade explodes assumptions about what legal rights can do for marginalized populations, and describes transformative resistance processes and formations that address the root causes of harm and violence.
In the new afterword to this revised and expanded edition, Spade notes the rapid mainstreaming of trans politics and finds that his predictions that gaining legal recognition will fail to benefit trans populations are coming to fruition. Spade examines recent efforts by the Obama administration and trans equality advocates to "pinkwash" state violence by articulating the US military and prison systems as sites for trans inclusion reforms. In the context of recent increased mainstream visibility of trans people and trans politics, Spade continues to advocate for the dismantling of systems of state violence that shorten the lives of trans people. Now more than ever, Normal Life is an urgent call for justice and trans liberation, and the radical transformations it will require.
Preface ix
Introduction: Rights, Movements, and Critical Trans Politics
1
1. Trans Law and Politics on a Neoliberal Landscape 21
2. What's Wrong with Rights 38
3. Rethinking Transphobia and Power—Beyond a Rights Framework
50
4. Administering Gender 73
5. Law Reform and Movement Building 94
Conclusion: "This Is a Protest, Not a Parade" 117
Afterword 139
Acknowledgments 163
Notes 167
Index 207
Dean Spade is an Assistant Professor at the Seattle University School of Law. In 2002, Spade founded the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, a nonprofit law collective that provides free legal services to transgender, intersex, and gender non-conforming people who are low-income and/or people of color. For more writing by Dean Spade, see http://www.deanspade.net.
"With Normal Life, Spade has succeeded in reframing the terms of
LGBT politics by building a far-reaching vision for queer and trans
politics that is rooted in community work that has already begun. .
. . [It] lay[s] out a road map for queer and trans activists that
leads neither to the altar nor to war, but guides us to resist
state power by building community and returning to our radical
roots."
*Bitch*
"Dean Spade’s much-anticipated book is a rich tapestry of critical
inquiry, interventions into legal and transgender studies, and
strategies for transformative resistance. . . . The strength of
Normal Life lies in Spade’s commitment to accessibility as a matter
of political and ethical principle. This principle is evident in
the way Spade skillfully articulates theoretical concepts in common
parlance, enabling critical trans politics to inform political
struggles beyond the academy. Moreover, his concrete discussions of
administrative governance and transformative political
interventions position radical change within our reach rather than
demarcate it to the realm of speculative futures."
*GLQ*
"[Normal Life] makes an important contribution to a new and
emerging critical trans politic. It is provocative, comprehensive,
and engaging. It should be widely discussed as an important
strategic framework for work within the LGBTQ movement."
*Women's Review of Books*
"Spade's book is personal, practical, and theoretical. It lays out
a framework for a critical trans politics, and gives fresh analyses
of immigration, legal reform, wealth distribution, and lesbian and
gay politics—all buoyantly and optimistically aimed at a repaired
world."
*Progressive*
"[Spade] provides an eminently teachable text for courses on power
in society, social movements, and community organizing—in the
university, and outside. . . .We will have to take Spade's
proposals very seriously to build a movement centered on those most
affected by administrative violence."
*Social Justice*
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