Ken Plummer - Cosmopolitan Sexualities: Hope and the Humanist Imagination

Ken Plummer

polity

Copyright Ken Plummer 2015

The right of Ken Plummer to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in 2015 by Polity Press

Polity Press
65 Bridge Street
Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK

Polity Press
350 Main Street
Malden, MA 02148, USA

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-9231-9

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Plummer, Ken.
Cosmopolitan sexualities : hope and the humanist imagination / Ken Plummer.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7456-7099-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-7456-7099-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-0-7456-7100-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-7456-7100-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Sex--Social aspects. I. Title.
HQ21.P564 2015
306.7--dc23

2014041486

The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.

Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.

For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com

In fond memory of

Stan Cohen (19422013)

Mary McIntosh (19362013)

Michael Schofield (19192014)

Jock Young (19422013)

Four inspirations

Hate begets hate, violence engenders violence, hypocrisy is answered by hypocrisy, war generates war, and love creates love.

Pitrim A Sorokin, The Ways and Power of Love (1954, p. xi)

Few things have done more harm than the belief on the part of individuals or groups (or tribes or states or nations or churches) that he or she or they are in sole possession of the truth: especially about how to live, what to be & do & that those who differ from them are not merely mistaken, but wicked or mad: & need restraining or suppressing. It is a terrible and dangerous arrogance to believe that you alone are right, have a magical eye which sees the truth, & that others cannot be right if they disagree.

Isaiah Berlin, Notes on prejudice 1981; in New York Review of Books, 18 October 2001 (Reproduced with permission of Curtis Brown Group Ltd, London on behalf of The Beneficiaries of the Estate of Isaiah Berlin Copyright Isaiah Berlin 1981)

http://kenplummer.com/cosmosexualities/

You may also be interested to visit this website connected to the book which provides links to a broad range of further resources relevant to Cosmopolitan Sexualities.

ACHPRAfrican Charter on Human and Peoples RightsAIAmnesty InternationalAIDSacquired immune deficiency syndromeAPFAsia Pacific ForumARSRCAfrica Regional Sexuality Resource CentreARTantiretroviral therapyARTassisted reproductive technologyARVantiretroviralASEANAssociation of Southeast Asian NationsAUAfrican UnionAVENAsexual Visibility and Education NetworkBDSMbondage, discipline, sadism, masochismCATWCoalition Against Trafficking in WomenCBRCcross-border reproductive careCEDAWConvention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against WomenCHSCulture, Health and Sexuality (journal)CLAMLatin America Centre on Sexuality and Human RightsCMAcritical medical anthropologyCRCCommission on the Rights of the ChildCRPDConvention on the Rights of Persons with DisabilitiesCSAchild sexual abuseCSOcivil society organizationCSScritical sexualities studiesECHREuropean Convention of Human RightsEUEuropean UnionFGMfemale genital mutilationGAATWGlobal Alliance Against Traffic in WomenGCVPGlobal Campaign for Violence PreventionGDIGender-Related Development IndexGJMGlobal Justice MovementGIFTGlobal Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN)GIIGender Inequality IndexHDIHuman Development IndexHIVhuman immunodeficiency virusHRWHuman Rights WatchHSIHuman Security IndexIASSCSInternational Association for the Study of Sexuality, Culture and SocietyICCPRInternational Covenant on Civil and Political RightsICERDInternational Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial DiscriminationICESCRInternational Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural RightsICTYInternational Criminal Tribunal for the Former YugoslaviaICJInternational Court of JusticeIHDIInequality-Adjusted Human Development IndexIHEUInternational Humanist and Ethical UnionILGAInternational Lesbian and Gay AssociationIMFInternational Monetary FundINGOinternational nongovernmental organizationIRRAGInternational Reproductive Rights Research GroupIWHCInternational Womens Health CoalitionLGBTlesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (other letters can be added as appropriate, e.g., Q for queer; I for intersex)MDGMillennium Development GoalsMDMAecstasy: empathogenic, phenethylamine and amphetamine drugMSMmen who have sex with menMENAMiddle East and North AfricanNATONorth Atlantic Treaty AllianceNAMBLANorth American Man Boy Love AssociationNGOnongovernmental organizationOASOrganization of American StatesOHCHROffice of the High Commissioner of Human RightsOICOrganization of Islamic CooperationPALPaedophile Action for LiberationPIEPaedophile Information ExchangeSPWSexual Policy WatchSRHRsexual and reproductive health and rightsSRISexual Rights InitiativeUNUnited NationsUPRUniversal Periodic Review (United Nations)UDHRUniversal Declaration of Human RightsUNAIDSUnited Nations Programme on HIV/AIDSUNCHRUnited Nations Commission on Human RightsUNFPAUnited Nations Population FundUNICEFUnited Nations Childrens FundUNIFEMUnited Nations Fund for WomenWCFWorld Congress of FamiliesWHOWorld Health OrganizationWSFWorld Social ForumWSWwomen who have sex with women

O wonder!

How many goodly creatures are there here!

How beauteous mankind is!

O brave new world, That has such people in it!

Shakespeare: The Tempest, 1610

Endless forms most beautiful and wonderful

Charles Darwin, On the Origins of the Species, 1859

Planet Earth currently houses well over seven billion human beings in some two hundred nations with thousands of ethnic tribes often in conflict, and more than seven thousand languages, each with histories stretching back across the millennia. Imagine, if you dare, the sheer multiplicity of various gendered, sexual and intimate relationships and practices that these little animals, us, have experienced as they have walked the earth through time and space; and the different religions, states and economies that have been brought into existence that have helped shape them. Here is a truly vast labyrinth of desire, gender and reproduction. Think perhaps of the sheer complexities, or not, of your own life; and those of your parents, grandparents and their communities too. Think of all the films you may have seen, the novels you might have read, the television you might have watched, the music you have heard about human relationships and sex. Spend a few minutes searching some of the millions of sex sites on the web. Then massively multiply all this into

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