Abstract

Sexuality is a complex and multifaceted domain – encompassing bodily, contextual and subjective experiences that resist ready categorisation. To claim the sexual as a viable research object therefore raises a number of important methodological questions: what is it possible to know about experiences, practices and perceptions of sex and sexualities? What approaches might help or hinder our efforts to probe such experiences?

This collection explores the creative, personal and contextual parameters involved in researching sexuality, cutting across disciplinary boundaries and drawing on case studies from a variety of countries and contexts. Combining a wide range of expertise, its contributors address such key areas as pornography, sex work, intersectionality and LGBT perspectives. The contributors also share their own experiences of researching sexuality within contrasting disciplines, as well as interrogating how the sexual identities of researchers themselves can relate to, and inform, their work. The result is a unique and diverse collection that combines practical insights on field work with novel theoretical reflections.

‘A profoundly honest and rigorous collection, full of insights into the unpredictable challenges and also the reverie of research on sex and sexualities. It combines theory, methods, ethics and stories – everything the researcher needs.’
Yasmin Gunaratnam, Goldsmiths, University of London

‘Revisits the perennial question of why and how to produce knowledge on sexuality. Its merit is to use epistemologically diverse points of entry to weave connections across generations of researchers.’
Sonia Corrêa, co-editor of Development with a Body

‘A rich and engaging exploration of the ways in which multifaceted sexual subjects and diverse sexual practices are situated, embodied and experienced in different contexts. It raises important questions about how we come to know and research contemporary sexual life worlds.’
Jacqui Gabb, The Open University

‘A very welcome addition to the field. It will be enormously useful for developing reflective research across a range of disciplines.’
Feona Attwood, Middlesex University

Andrea Cornwall is a professor of anthropology and international development at the University of Sussex. Her previous books include the edited collections Masculinities under Neoliberalism (Zed 2016) and Feminisms, Empowerment and Development (Zed 2014).

Paul Boyce is a senior lecturer in anthropology and international development at the University of Sussex. His previous books include the edited collection Understanding Global Sexualities: New Frontiers (2012).

Hannah Frith is a lecturer applied social science at the University of Brighton. Her previous books include Orgasmic Bodies: The Orgasm in Contemporary Western Culture (2015).

Laura Harvey is a lecturer in sociology at the University of Brighton.

Charlotte Morris lectures in sociology and gender at the University of Sussex.

Huang Yingying is an associate professor of sociology at Renmin University in China.