Queer Premises

This terrific book deftly unpicks the shifting and unequal forces – from LGBTQ+ activism to clunky planning processes and neo-liberal urban redevelopment – that have affected the survival or closure of London’s queer venues since the 1980s. Professor Campkin’s fine-grained and authoritative analysis illuminates our understanding of London’s queer nightlife and will reshape queer urban studies. * Alison Oram, Institute of Historical Research, University of London, UK *
In these pages lives a network of places that scale up into structures of urban governance, planning, and “queer infrastructure” in London. The clever move to examine the heritage values of these LGBTQ+ venues enables Campkin to show the collectivist project of placemaking initiatives. An absolute tour de force. * Amin Ghaziani, Professor of Sociology, University of British Columbia *
Sexual minorities beyond London are creating new urban spaces, challenging (hetero)normativity and other constraints generated by economic and government structures … Cities and their planning commissions around the world will deal with this for a long time, and in many permutations. This is why Queer Premises is a good book for both activists and policymakers to start thinking about such issues, and each other. Activists will read about the political and economic pressures that pre-existing power structures bring. Policymakers will perhaps learn that cultural change is normal and can also play an import ant role in creating new urban centers, as well as colonizing the night-time. -- Tony Waters, Leuphana University of Lüneburg * DIY, Alternative Cultures & Society *
Ben Campkin’s engaging and meticulously researched new book, Queer Premises, explores London’s LGBTQ+ venues in the context of urban governance and shifts in city planning … The book will be valuable to anyone researching LGBTQ+ heritage and urban histories in contemporary Britain but also further afield. It provides an example for future researchers who hope to bring the queer histories of different venues, places, and sites in and beyond London to the fore. -- Isabell Dahms, Goldsmiths University of London, UK * Modern British History *
Campkin’s deep commitment to empirical study and the close reading of often inaccessible evidence deserves praise. * Planning Perspectives *