Description

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Anti-violence movements rooted in identity politics are commonplace, including those to stop violence against people of color, women, and LGBT people. Unlivable Lives reveals the unintended consequences of this approach within the transgender rights movement in the United States. It illustrates how this form of activism obscures the causes of and lasting solutions to violence and exacerbates fear among members of the identity group, running counter to the goal of making lives more livable. Analyzing over a thousand documents produced by thirteen national organizations, Westbrook charts both a history of the movement and a path forward that relies less on identity-based tactics and more on intersectionality and coalition building. Provocative and galvanizing, this book envisions new strategies for anti-violence and social justice movements and will revolutionize the way we think about this form of activism.

About the Author

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Laurel Westbrook is Associate Professor of Sociology at Grand Valley State University and cofounder of Sociologists for Trans Justice.

Praise For…

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"This book will appeal to all people interested in trans politics. Versatile and accessible, it will be helpful to activists and useful for graduate and undergraduate courses in social movements, sociology of gender, public policy, law, criminology, and women/gender/sexuality studies."

— Mobilization

"Unlivable Lives represents a splendid contribution to sociological literature as well as a useful volume for teachers and researchers working in a variety of subfields and disciplines."
— Contemporary Sociology

"Laurel Westbrook has written an invaluable analysis of the trans anti-violence movement in the United States. . . . a courageous book."
— New Mexico Historical Review

"Unlivable Lives makes an invaluable intervention in how academics and activists discuss trans people and organize against violence."
— TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly

"Westbrook’s writing is simultaneously accessible and theoretically sophisticated. . . . This work is an important contribution to the study of anti-transgender crime, particularly with the paucity of reliable data on fatal violence against transgender persons."
— American Journal of Sociology