{"product_id":"unsafe","title":"Unsafe: The Carceral Roots of the Anti-Trans Backlash","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe fiercest battles over gender today aren’t just about identity \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eor womanhood\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—but about punishment, fear, and control.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe twenty-first century “gender wars” have been driven by a powerful and seductive narrative: that safety can be secured through exclusion, surveillance, and the policing of difference. These punitive logics have gained momentum across the political spectrum, fueling an anti-trans backlash and distorting the meaning of safety itself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eUnsafe \u003c\/em\u003eis a clear-eyed and decisive challenge to the toxic ideas at the heart of this backlash. With patient rigour, Lamble exposes how carceral approaches to safety fail to address root causes of harm, ultimately deepening social divisions and legitimising new forms of violence and control.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing on feminist and queer traditions as well as their experience organizing against prisons and policing, Lamble makes a principled case for a different vision: one where safety is not built on punishment but on collective care, radical solidarity, and transformative justice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLamble\u003c\/strong\u003e is a community organizer and Professor of Criminology and Queer Theory at Birkbeck, University of London. Their work explores questions of gender, sexuality, and justice with a focus on feminist and abolitionist alternatives to prisons, police, and punishment. They are based in London.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIntroduction: Rethinking safety politics in the wake of the ‘gender wars’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePart I: The safety politics of the gender wars\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUnsafe: the rise of the “gender wars” in Britain\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eTraces the manufacturing of a “trans danger” discourse\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e, \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eand how it was amplified by “gender critical” campaigners, politicians, and corporate media to escalate the gender wars in Britain.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWeaponizing safety: the carceral politics of the “gender wars”\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eArgues that carceral politics are a central factor in understanding how and why the gender wars escalated so rapidly in Britain, and makes the case for rethinking safety politics more broadly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow we got here: the neoliberal carceral roots of “bad man” feminism\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eTraces a political shift in Britain from a broader critique of patriarchal structures to a narrower focus on the “violent man” as the new enemy of feminism, and shows “trans danger feminism” as an extension of this logic.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePart II: Carceral politics don’t keep us safe\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDangerous others and the problem of sexual exceptionalism\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eArgues that at the heart of narratives of dangerous sexual predators are logics of “sexual exceptionalism”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e―\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003ea framing that treats sexual violence as fundamentally distinct from other harms and people who commit sexual harm as inherently different from ordinary people.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhy prisons, policing, and punishment don’t make us safe\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eExplains why a feminist abolitionist approach to safety is necessary to overcome the current impasse of the gender wars and the wider limits of existing safety politics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePart III: Building a transformative politics of safety\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom symbolic to material safety\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eMakes the case that an abolitionist approach requires a refocus on the material conditions necessary for genuine safety, e.g. housing, health care, food security, and freedom of movement.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom individual to collective safety\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eArgues that an abolitionist approach to safety requires a reorientation from individual to collective agency.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSafety through solidarity\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eExplores what a politics of ‘no one is disposable’ means in practice, and how this politics can foster greater practices of safety and liberation for all.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusion: We keep us safe\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eSummarizes the importance of building queer anti-carceral solidarities in both local and international contexts and the necessity of connecting struggles for gender justice with those of racial, economic, social, environmental, and anticolonial movements.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat People Are Saying\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eUnsafe \u003c\/em\u003ebrings the universality of abolition to everyone, and it does so precisely through the “issue” that many are most likely to think doesn’t concern them at all: transness. The result is an explosive illumination of the interdependence of all liberation struggles at a time when we desperately need such light. Even as the carceral state makes its deep structural investment in forced cissexuality plainer than ever, many of us have persisted too long in regarding trans matters as a mere culture war. Thank you, Lamble, for doing the work we so urgently needed. I’ve been waiting for someone to write this book for a long time.\" Sophie Lewis, author of \u003cem\u003eEnemy Feminisms: TERFs, Policewomen, and Girlbosses Against Liberation\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\"As attacks on trans people reach new, terrifying heights, activists and scholars around the world must take a careful look at what has transpired in Britain. Unsafe provides a sobering, detailed, insightful account of how anti-trans activists have influenced British politics in recent years. Lamble's abolitionist analysis dismantles how women's safety has been weaponized. This book is exactly what we need right now.\" Dean Spade, author of \u003cem\u003eLove in a F*cked-Up World\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\"Taking the anti-trans backlash that has gripped the UK as its starting point, readers are provided with a fascinating historical account of how feminists and queer people alike threw their lot in with a broken, ineffective criminal justice system. \u003cem\u003eUnsafe\u003c\/em\u003e is a challenging, rigorous, and genuinely nuanced read for those interested in a more expansive lens on both feminism and queer liberation in Britain.\" Shon Faye, author of \u003cem\u003eLove in Exile\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\"Through careful and compassionate analysis, Lamble makes evident that struggles for justice by and for different marginalized groups are not a zero sum game. Our goals do not exist at an atomized level; our strategies galvanize when they are collective. Unsafe is a loving act of documenting, remembering, and bringing together knowledge deeply rooted in community organizing, with a clear steer towards justice and liberation for all of us.\" Leah Cowan, author of \u003cem\u003eWhy Would Feminists Trust the Police?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eUnsafe\u003c\/em\u003e goes beyond critique to show how people are taking collective action for structural change that results in material rather than merely symbolic safety. Rooted in solidarity, care, and commitment, this book is a welcome boost in discouraging times.\" Rachel Herzing, co-author of\u003cem\u003e How to Abolish Prisons\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Counterintuitive and provocative...a contemporary political study about left- and right-wing reactions to transgender rights and the carceral approach to justice.\"\u003cem\u003e Foreword Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A fascinating, thorough dissection of deeper ideological currents behind the anti-trans backlash.\"\u003cem\u003e Publishers Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Haymarket Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44996296736861,"sku":"9798888906064","price":32.13,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0562\/0826\/1213\/files\/Unsafecarceralrootsoftheanti-transbacklash.jpg?v=1788715520","url":"https:\/\/leftwingbooks.net\/fr\/products\/unsafe","provider":"Leftwingbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}