Capitalism's sexual history / Nicola J. Smith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smith, Nicola Jo-Anne, author.

Contributor:

Commins-Holman Family Fund.

Series:

Oxford studies in gender and international relations

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Prostitution--Great Britain--History.

Prostitution.

Sex--Economic aspects--Great Britain--History.

Sex.

Capitalism--Social aspects--Great Britain.

Capitalism.

Queer theory.

Feminist theory.

Capitalism--Social aspects.

Sex--Economic aspects.

History.

Great Britain.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

viii, 191 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2020]

Summary:

"What is the relationship between capitalism and sexuality, and why are they so often assumed to be antithetical? The book interrogates these questions by bringing together insights from two fields that have often overlooked each other, international political economy and queer theory. It develops a queer political economy lens to understand how the history of capitalism has been intimately entangled with the history of sexuality. Yet central to this story has been the construction of sexuality as something that needs to be protected from capitalism's adulterating influence at all costs. As the author examines, this is no accident since capitalism profits greatly from the illusion that economic and sexual relations exist in distinct realms that can and must be kept apart. Focusing on the specific site of sex work in Britain, the volume draws on wide-ranging archival research to chart a genealogy of capitalist development from the Middle Ages to the present day. It shows that capitalism has long been organized around the extraction of unpaid sexual labor that, in turn, has been made possible by the creation and maintenance of a dualism between sex and work. By exposing the historical mechanisms through which the economy/sexuality dichotomy has been constituted, the book opens up new space for critical enquiry into the intersections between sex, work, and economic and sexual injustice"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Queer Political Economy

The Rise of a New Sexual Order

Sex, Work, and the Victorians

Buying Love in the Twentieth Century

Deviant Heterosexuality in Austere Times.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Commins-Holman Family Fund.

Other Format:

Online version: Smith, Nicola J. Capitalism's sexual history

ISBN:

9780197545195

9780197530276

0197530273

019754519X

OCLC:

1154562706

Publisher Number:

99985358459