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Quote by Dean Spade

“I see the concepts spatially in my mind. I see the boxes and corrals and grids into which administrative systems require people, things and information to be fit in order to be legible, made to live, or in order to facilitate death and abandonment.”

Quote by Dean Spade

Author

Dean Spade, born in 1977, is a writer whose work primarily focuses on social issues such as gender, race, and class, exploring their manifestation in law, politics, and social movements. more

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“I am often talking about the ideas collected in Normal Life in contexts that are not academic, or that are full of people who are not primarily engaging as theorists or theory-readers. Being able to make ideas visual, especially critical ideas about movements that can be difficult to hear because of attachments we have to certain national narratives, or because of ways that we see ourselves, is especially useful.”

People Way Ideas Able Certain Difficult Talking Movement Theory Reader Normal Critical Narrative Visuals Attachment Academic Engaging Normal Life Theorists

Author:Dean Spade

“In recent years I have become more interested in making the critical ideas that I love teaching and talking about available in more forms, because many people prefer to engage with ideas in films, infographics, comics and other forms that are not traditional books or articles.”

People Years Book Ideas Film Form Talking Teaching Available Critical Traditional Articles Love Teaching

Author:Dean Spade

“One of the concepts I was having trouble illustrating was the concept that administrative systems create narrow categories of gender and force people into them in order to get their basic needs met - what I call "administrative violence." I had images of forms with gender boxes and ID cards with gender markers, but I also wanted an image that would capture how basic services like shelters are gender segregated.”

People Needs Wanted Form Order Force Violence Trouble Mets Concepts Boxes Gender Cards Categories Capture Shelter Administrative Markers Basic Needs Illustrating

Author:Dean Spade

“Gender segregated shelters are inaccessible to many trans people, and trans women in particular are often forced to choose between going into a men's shelter where they face enormous danger, or remaining street homeless and facing the violence, harassment, arrest, and exposure risks of that.”

People Men Faces Violence Risk Streets Danger Particular Gender Enormous Shelter Homeless Exposure Trans Harassment Inaccessible

Author:Dean Spade

“Making my work more visual is something I am increasingly excited about. I am hopeful that it will broaden access to some of the ideas being engaged in activist and scholarly communities of which I am part.”

Ideas Community Excited Access Engaged Visuals Hopeful Activist Scholarly

Author:Dean Spade

“I am thoughtful about introducing terms that tend to be in circulation primarily in academic circles. "Homonormativity" and "homonationalism" are by no means solely academic terms, and in fact circulate in important ways in many activist circles, but in general I find them to be terms that most people I meet are not familiar with.”

People Way Mean Important Facts Term Circles Familiar Thoughtful Activist Academic Introducing Circulation

Author:Dean Spade

“I have deliberated carefully about which of the terms that are unfamiliar to many of my readers I wanted to take time to introduce and explain, and which terms I would not introduce, despite the fact that I find them useful in my other work, in teaching, or in other activist contexts.”

Facts Wanted Term Teaching Reader Despite Activist Introducing Take Time Unfamiliar

Author:Dean Spade

“"Oppression" or "systems of oppression" operate as a shorthand terms in much writing and speaking so that we do not have to list all these systems of meaning and control each time (i.e. racism, ableism, xenophobia, etc.). I needed a term like that, but "oppression" implies a kind of top-down understanding of power that is at odds with the Foucaultian model I rely on in my work.”

Writing Kind Understanding Term Needed Models Racism Lists Oppression Rely Etc Odds Xenophobia Top Down Shorthand

Author:Dean Spade

“Many people who are drawn to work about racism and transphobia may be new to thinking deeply about colonialism and indigenous resistance in their North America.”

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Author:Dean Spade

“There are sharply different, competing models of what trans advocacy looks like - those that seek to follow the path laid out by the most visible and well-funded lesbian and gay rights organizations in the US and those that seek to use grassroots strategies, center issues of race and poverty, and aim to dismantle harmful institutions and conditions to redistribute life chances.”

Wells Looks Different Use Chance Race Poverty Path Issues Rights Conditions Gay Models Organization Aim Institutions Strategy Visible Competing Trans Gay Rights Advocacy Grassroots

Author:Dean Spade