Staking a claim

Suzanne Franzway joins feminist lived experience to social theory in this study, aiming for an organized account of how the state takes part in sexual politics. Rather than treating the state as a neutral backdrop, the author asks what it actually is, and argues that gender relations help form it while shifting currents in sexual politics continually reshape it.

The discussion moves across a wide range of ground. It considers what citizenship means, how patriarchy is structured, and the place of sexual violence, along with welfare institutions, electoral politics and trade unions. Concrete policy debates anchor these ideas, including welfare policy, reform of rape law, housing policy and equal employment opportunities.