Normal Life : Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law

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. "Wait-what's wrong with rights? Much of the legal advocacy for trans and gender nonconforming people in the US has reflected the civil rights and equality" strategies of mainstream gay and lesbian organizations-agitating for legal reforms that would ostensibly guarantee equal access, nondiscrimination, and equal protection under the law. This approach assumes that the state and its legal, policing, and social services apparatus-even its policies and documents of belonging and non-belonging-are neutral and benevolent. While we all have to comply with the gender binaries set forth by regulatory bodies of law and administration, many trans people, especially the most marginalized, are even more at risk for poverty, violence, and premature death by virtue of those same neutral" legal structures. Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law raises revelatory critiques of the current strategies pivoting solely on a legal rights framework," but also points to examples of an organized grassroots trans movement that is demanding the most essential of legal reforms in addition to making more comprehensive interventions into dangerous systems of repression-and the administrative violence that ultimately determines our life chances. Setting forth a politic that goes beyond the quest for mere legal inclusion, Normal Life is an urgent call for justice and trans liberation, and the radical transformations it will require. An attorney, educator, and trans activist, Dean Spade has taught classes on sexual orientation, gender identity, poverty and law at the City University of New York (CUNY), Seattle University, Columbia University, and Harvard. In 2002 he founded the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, a collective that provides free legal services and works to build trans resistance rooted in racial and economic justice. "-- 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 Are Raising Demands That Go Beyond Traditional Civil Rights Reforms. Spade Explodes The 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. Setting Forth A Politic That Goes Beyond The Quest For Mere Legal Inclusion, Normal Life Is An Urgent Call For Justice And Trans Liberation, And The Radical Transformations It Will Require-- Back Cover. Introduction : Rights, Movements, And Critical Trans Politics -- Trans Law And Politics On A Neoliberal Landscape -- What's Wrong With Rights? -- Rethinking Transphobia And Power : Beyond A Rights Framework -- Administrating Gender -- Law Reform And Movement Building -- Conclusion: This Is A Protest, Not A Parade -- Afterword. Dean Spade. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 167-205) And Index. "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 are raising demands that go beyond traditional civil rights reforms. Spade explodes the 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. Setting forth a politic that goes beyond the quest for mere legal inclusion, Normal Life is an urgent call for justice and trans liberation, and the radical transformations it will require."--Page 4 of cover