Abstract:This essay reviews three recent books on perversion—a term that psychology has replaced with the ostensibly less-pathologizing term paraphilia, but which remains operative in popular discourse. Besides exploring the reasons for and limitations of this replacement, this essay analyzes the relationship between the concept of perversion and liberal politics—a politics of individualism, liberty, and consent. As one book reveals, efforts to defend BDSM as “safe, sane, and consensual” participate in liberal politica… Show more
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