Statecraft and Sexuality

Harvard FAS

States regulate sex, sexual violence, sexual taboos, sexual identities, and even how we talk about sex. In this junior tutorial we will explore how – and why. We study the role of sexuality in the state’s core monopolies, notably its monopolies on the legitimate use of force and on the capacity to administer human populations and movements. To this end, we examine instances when the state deploys sexual intimacies and sexual violence as tools for establishing nations, distributing citizenship…