Difference Troubles

In this 1997 book, Steven Seidman offers a wide-ranging and sophisticated discussion of social theory and sexual politics.

What are the implications for social theory of taking difference seriously? In this 1997 book, Steven Seidman offers a wide-ranging and sophisticated discussion of social theory and sexual politics, and argues persuasively for a pragmatic approach to questions of difference in theory and politics.Difference Troubles, first published in 1997, examines the implications for social theory and sexual politics of taking difference seriously. It explores the trouble difference makes not only for the social sciences, but also for the people - feminists, queer theorists, postmodernists - who champion difference. Seidman asks how social thinkers should conceptualize differences such as gender, race, and sexuality, without reducing them to an inferior status. This is a wide-ranging and sophisticated discussion of contemporary social theory and sexual politics, presented with Seidman's familiar imagination and clarity. In addition, it argues persuasively for a pragmatic approach to difference troubles in theory and politics.