Sex, Politics and Society

A pioneering study which has become an established classic in its field, Sex, Politics and Society provides a lucid and comprehensive analysis of the transformations of British sexual life from 1800 to the present. These changes are firmly located in the wider context of social change, from industrialization and the experience of Empire through the establishment of the welfare state to the rise of new social movements, such as feminism and gay liberation, and new forms of social conservatism.

Now fully revised and updated, and with a new chapter bringing the story right up to date, this new edition considers:

• the transformation of the sexual world through globalization and the internet
• the changing impact of the AIDS pandemic over the last thirty years
• the influence of new currents in social and cultural theory on the study of sexuality
• the gradual depoliticization and mainstreaming of sexuality within historical study

Combining rich empirical detail with innovative theoretical insights, Sex, Politics and Society remains at the cutting edge of the subject and this third edition will inspire and provoke a whole new generation of readers in history, sociology, social policy, and the study of sexuality.

Jeffrey Weeks is now Emeritus Professor of Sociology at London South Bank University and is Visiting Professor at Cardiff University and at London University Institute of Education. He has published over 20 books and 100 articles, mainly on the social organisation and history of sexuality and intimate life. He has an international reputation for his work, and has been translated, inter alia, into Spanish, Japanese and Chinese.