M. Lloyd, Senior Lecturer, Loughborough University

• Abbreviations xAcknowledgements xii1 Introduction 1Feminism, identity and difference 4From homosexual to gay and lesbian to queer 7The influence of poststructuralism 10Hegel and desiring subjects 13Postscript 232 Rethinking Sex and Gender 25The trouble with women 25Feminism and the sex/gender debate 28Denaturalizing sex and gender 30Cultural intelligibility – contesting heteronormativity 33From phenomenology to performativity 36Performing gender 42Women in/and feminism 44Conclusion 463 Towards a Subversive Gender Politics 49From parody to politics 50Subversive gender politics 51Performativity and subversion 54Free will versus determinism 57Enter iterability 61The ambivalence of drag 66The matter of bodies 68Politicizing abjection – making bodies matter 74Conclusion 764 Psychoanalysis and the Gendered Subject 78Gender Trouble and psychoanalysis 79Rubin and 'The Traffic in Women' 80Freud and Oedipus 82Melancholic gender identifi cations 83Melancholia and performativity 85Lacan and Oedipus 88Assuming sex 89Locating resistance 91Kinship matters 93Psychic subjectivity 97Passionate attachment and primary dependency 99Resisting Butler 102Conclusion 1055 'Talking Back' – Resignifi cation and Politics 107Words that Wound 108The force of the performative 110Opposing sovereign performatives 113A linguistic account of subjectivity 115Linguistic subjectivity and responsibility 118Revisiting agency – politics and resignifi cation 120Against the state 126Conclusion 1336 What Makes for a Liveable Life? 134Normative violence and questions of liveability 135Corporeal vulnerability 138Mourning and grief 141Questions of recognition 143What's wrong with 'desiring the state's desire'? 146The politics of radical democracy 14Cultural translation 150Conclusion 154Notes 157Bibliography 182Index 197

"An original and engaging overview of Butler's body of work."Australian Journal of Political Science "For students and faculty struggling to understand Judith Butler, I strongly recommend this book. Lloyd proves to be a reliable guide who is not afraid to engage critically with Butler’s gender theory and politics."Steven Seidman, University at Albany, State University of New York"Moya Lloyd’s careful reading of the work of Judith Butler is a gift of scholarly generosity. With insight and precision, Lloyd sets out the themes, questions and contexts driving Butler’s philosophy. This important book will benefit beginning and advanced readers of Butler as it traces the deep connections between the body, language, ethics and politics extending throughout her thought."Jodi Dean, Hobart and William Smith Colleges

M. Lloyd, Senior Lecturer, Loughborough University

• Abbreviations xAcknowledgements xii1 Introduction 1Feminism, identity and difference 4From homosexual to gay and lesbian to queer 7The influence of poststructuralism 10Hegel and desiring subjects 13Postscript 232 Rethinking Sex and Gender 25The trouble with women 25Feminism and the sex/gender debate 28Denaturalizing sex and gender 30Cultural intelligibility – contesting heteronormativity 33From phenomenology to performativity 36Performing gender 42Women in/and feminism 44Conclusion 463 Towards a Subversive Gender Politics 49From parody to politics 50Subversive gender politics 51Performativity and subversion 54Free will versus determinism 57Enter iterability 61The ambivalence of drag 66The matter of bodies 68Politicizing abjection – making bodies matter 74Conclusion 764 Psychoanalysis and the Gendered Subject 78Gender Trouble and psychoanalysis 79Rubin and 'The Traffic in Women' 80Freud and Oedipus 82Melancholic gender identifi cations 83Melancholia and performativity 85Lacan and Oedipus 88Assuming sex 89Locating resistance 91Kinship matters 93Psychic subjectivity 97Passionate attachment and primary dependency 99Resisting Butler 102Conclusion 1055 'Talking Back' – Resignifi cation and Politics 107Words that Wound 108The force of the performative 110Opposing sovereign performatives 113A linguistic account of subjectivity 115Linguistic subjectivity and responsibility 118Revisiting agency – politics and resignifi cation 120Against the state 126Conclusion 1336 What Makes for a Liveable Life? 134Normative violence and questions of liveability 135Corporeal vulnerability 138Mourning and grief 141Questions of recognition 143What's wrong with 'desiring the state's desire'? 146The politics of radical democracy 14Cultural translation 150Conclusion 154Notes 157Bibliography 182Index 197

"An original and engaging overview of Butler's body of work."Australian Journal of Political Science "For students and faculty struggling to understand Judith Butler, I strongly recommend this book. Lloyd proves to be a reliable guide who is not afraid to engage critically with Butler’s gender theory and politics."Steven Seidman, University at Albany, State University of New York"Moya Lloyd’s careful reading of the work of Judith Butler is a gift of scholarly generosity. With insight and precision, Lloyd sets out the themes, questions and contexts driving Butler’s philosophy. This important book will benefit beginning and advanced readers of Butler as it traces the deep connections between the body, language, ethics and politics extending throughout her thought."Jodi Dean, Hobart and William Smith Colleges

M. Lloyd, Senior Lecturer, Loughborough University

• Abbreviations xAcknowledgements xii1 Introduction 1Feminism, identity and difference 4From homosexual to gay and lesbian to queer 7The influence of poststructuralism 10Hegel and desiring subjects 13Postscript 232 Rethinking Sex and Gender 25The trouble with women 25Feminism and the sex/gender debate 28Denaturalizing sex and gender 30Cultural intelligibility – contesting heteronormativity 33From phenomenology to performativity 36Performing gender 42Women in/and feminism 44Conclusion 463 Towards a Subversive Gender Politics 49From parody to politics 50Subversive gender politics 51Performativity and subversion 54Free will versus determinism 57Enter iterability 61The ambivalence of drag 66The matter of bodies 68Politicizing abjection – making bodies matter 74Conclusion 764 Psychoanalysis and the Gendered Subject 78Gender Trouble and psychoanalysis 79Rubin and 'The Traffic in Women' 80Freud and Oedipus 82Melancholic gender identifi cations 83Melancholia and performativity 85Lacan and Oedipus 88Assuming sex 89Locating resistance 91Kinship matters 93Psychic subjectivity 97Passionate attachment and primary dependency 99Resisting Butler 102Conclusion 1055 'Talking Back' – Resignifi cation and Politics 107Words that Wound 108The force of the performative 110Opposing sovereign performatives 113A linguistic account of subjectivity 115Linguistic subjectivity and responsibility 118Revisiting agency – politics and resignifi cation 120Against the state 126Conclusion 1336 What Makes for a Liveable Life? 134Normative violence and questions of liveability 135Corporeal vulnerability 138Mourning and grief 141Questions of recognition 143What's wrong with 'desiring the state's desire'? 146The politics of radical democracy 14Cultural translation 150Conclusion 154Notes 157Bibliography 182Index 197

"An original and engaging overview of Butler's body of work."Australian Journal of Political Science "For students and faculty struggling to understand Judith Butler, I strongly recommend this book. Lloyd proves to be a reliable guide who is not afraid to engage critically with Butler’s gender theory and politics."Steven Seidman, University at Albany, State University of New York"Moya Lloyd’s careful reading of the work of Judith Butler is a gift of scholarly generosity. With insight and precision, Lloyd sets out the themes, questions and contexts driving Butler’s philosophy. This important book will benefit beginning and advanced readers of Butler as it traces the deep connections between the body, language, ethics and politics extending throughout her thought."Jodi Dean, Hobart and William Smith Colleges