Carving Out a Niche or Finding a Place at the Table? The Sociology of Transgender Studies

Abstract

Over the last decade, transgender studies has benefited from an explosion of interest within academia. Sociology is not immune to these developments in a field of inquiry that has existed for some time. But what does it mean for sociologists to become immersed in a topic that claims no disciplinary boundaries, no agreed-upon methodological strategies, and even a lack of consensus on how to define “transgender”? Further complicating this field is the fact that it is quickly moving. As Barbara Risman shared in a recent Author Meets Critic session during the 2019 Southern Sociological Society conference, her book was “dated” before it even hit the shelves because in the time between data collection and publication so much had already changed in trans studies. Echoing this thought, by the time this essay goes to print, there likely will be new books out in the field that challenge the observations shared here, thus making this essay a tad dated, too. Coupled with the quickly moving nature of the field of trans studies, to refer to one’s self as a sociologist of trans studies is still risky business. Often subsumed within the sociology of gender studies, trans studies shares affinities with sexuality studies in that these areas of inquiry are treated as boutique topics reserved for the occasional sociologist who might be interested in quirky areas of study (see also Gamson and Moon 2004). Consider the leading journals in sociology—American Sociological Review and the American Journal of Sociology. As of this writing, ASR and AJS have each published one article that centralizes trans people or trans studies.1 This provokes questions about what it might mean for generalist sociologists to embrace trans studies as something other than an offbeat topic. Yet not all sociologists agree upon a basic premise that defines the field: trans people matter to how we understand broader patterns in social life. It is a misunderstanding that trans people or topics should be relegated to the margin, as recent works by trans studies scholars in sociology have much to offer the discipline in studying the emergence of identities that propagate new inequalities and—sometimes—even joy.