What's the use? : on the uses of use

Ahmed, Sara 1969- (author.).

Summary: "In What's the Use? Sara Ahmed continues the work she began in The Promise of Happiness and Willful Subjects by taking up a single word--in this case, use--and following it around. She shows how use became associated with life and strength in nineteenth century biological and social thought and considers how utilitarianism offered a set of educational techniques for shaping individuals by directing them toward useful ends. Ahmed also explores how spaces become restricted to some uses and users with specific reference to universities. She notes, however, the potential for queer use: how things can be used in ways that were not intended or by those for whom they were not intended. Ahmed posits queer use as way of reanimating the project of diversity work as the ordinary and painstaking work of opening up institutions to those who have historically been excluded from them"--

Record details

ISBN: 9781478005841
ISBN: 9781478006503
ISBN: 9781478007210
ISBN: 147800584X
ISBN: 1478006501
Physical Description: print
xiv, 281 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Publisher: Durham : Duke University Press, 2019.
Copyright: ©2019

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-270) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	A useful archive -- Using things -- The biology of use and disuse -- Use as technique -- Use and the university -- Queer use.