Making Sense of Sexual Consent

Dr Mark Cowling is a Reader in Criminology at the University of Teesside, UK and Dr Paul Reynolds is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the Centre for Studies in the Social Sciences, Edge Hill University College, UK.

• Contents: Introduction, Mark Cowling and Paul Reynolds. Part I: (More) General and Theoretical Themes: Rape, communicative sexuality and sex education, Mark Cowling; Feminist approaches to sexual consent: a critical assessment, Allison Moore and Paul Reynolds; Sexual ethics and the erotics of consent, Moira Carmody; The language of refusal: sexual consent and the limits of post-structuralism, Gideon Calder; The age of consent and sexual consent, Matthew Waites; The quality of consent: sexual consent, culture, communication, knowledge and ethics, Paul Reynolds. Part II: (More) Specific and Practical Themes: 'Risky' women, sexual consent and criminal 'Justice', Margaret S. Malloch; Prostitution and consent: beyond the liberal dichotomy of 'Free or Forced', Barbara Sullivan; The construction of sexual consent in male rape and sexual assault, Philip N. S. Rumney and Martin Morgan-Taylor; Beyond (hetero)sexual consent, Karen Corteen; 'Sexual Rights' and 'Sexual Responsibilities' within consensual 'S/M', Andrea Beckmann; Understanding sexual consent: an empirical investigation of the normative script for young heterosexual adults, Terry P. Humphreys; People with learning disabilities: sex, the law and consent, Michelle McCarthy and David Thompson; Sex is violence: a critique of Susan Sontag's 'Fascinating Fascism', David Renton; 'In the Field and In There': some ethical dilemmas in researching sexualities, John Gibbins; Index.

’This volume offers a range of sensitive debates on problems of sexual consent in a range of real-life contexts and through the lenses of different disciplinary approaches and emphases. Rigorously argued and careful to avoid platitudes, it will stimulate anyone exercised by these everyday realities - and who is not? - as well as provoking much-needed reflection.’ Bob Brecher, University of Brighton, UK and Editor of Res Publica ’Consent is at the heart of sexual relationships and in this book Mark Cowling and Paul Reynolds present the most extensive, thorough and strongly-argued accounts of sexual consent to date...This timely, wide-ranging and deeply interesting collection of writings takes the debate on sexual consent a significant step forward.’ Dr Helen Jones, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK ’Much of this book is directed at an unmistakably academic audience, but lawyers will find...insights to inform their arguments in sexual assault cases turning on the issues of consent...Policy-makers, in particular, should appreciate the various perspectives on sexual consent presented in Cowling and Reynolds’ book as they attempt to strike the appropriate balance between protecting the disadvantaged and liberating them.’ Scolag Legal Journal ’...a useful collection for those interested in questions surrounding sexual consent...[that] bring[s] readers to new, useful places to begin thinking about these issues.’ Contemporary Sociology