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Classify and Label

The Unintended Marginalization of Social Groups

Matt L. Drabek

Classify and Label: The Unintended Marginalization of Social Groups is a philosophical treatment of classification in the social sciences and everyday life, focusing on moral, social, and political implications. The use of labels is essential to how people navigate and understand the world. Classifications and labels also have a dark side, as they may unintentionally misrepresent groups and individuals. These misrepresentations disrupt how people think about themselves and how they treat others, sometimes leading to marginalization.

Matt L. Drabek analyzes classification by considering rich case studies across a variety of domains, including the classification of gender and sexual orientation, the psychiatric classification of sadomasochism and gender disorders, and the classification of people in everyday life through the production of pornography and use of gender identities. This broad sample reveals deep connections between the classifications proposed by social scientists and the classifications used by society at large. Drabek explores how classifications evolve from and eventually affect such seemingly disconnected issues as the situation of under-represented groups in academia, new models of parenting and the family, the nature of sexual orientation, and the nature of scientific bias.

Lexington Books

Pages: 170 • Trim: 6½ x 9¼

978-0-7391-7975-8 • Hardback • October 2014 • $120.00 • (£92.00)

978-1-4985-0444-7 • Paperback • May 2016 • $54.99 • (£42.00)

978-0-7391-7976-5 • eBook • October 2014 • $52.00 • (£40.00)

Subjects: Philosophy / Social, Philosophy / Political, Social Science / Feminism & Feminist Theory, Social Science / Gender Studies, Social Science / Minority Studies, Social Science / Social Classes & Economic Disparity, Philosophy / Gender Philosophy, Philosophy / Philosophy of Love and Sex

Classify and Label

The Unintended Marginalization of Social Groups

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Classify and Label: The Unintended Marginalization of Social Groups is a philosophical treatment of classification in the social sciences and everyday life, focusing on moral, social, and political implications. The use of labels is essential to how people navigate and understand the world. Classifications and labels also have a dark side, as they may unintentionally misrepresent groups and individuals. These misrepresentations disrupt how people think about themselves and how they treat others, sometimes leading to marginalization.

Matt L. Drabek analyzes classification by considering rich case studies across a variety of domains, including the classification of gender and sexual orientation, the psychiatric classification of sadomasochism and gender disorders, and the classification of people in everyday life through the production of pornography and use of gender identities. This broad sample reveals deep connections between the classifications proposed by social scientists and the classifications used by society at large. Drabek explores how classifications evolve from and eventually affect such seemingly disconnected issues as the situation of under-represented groups in academia, new models of parenting and the family, the nature of sexual orientation, and the nature of scientific bias.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 170 • Trim: 6½ x 9¼

978-0-7391-7975-8 • Hardback • October 2014 • $120.00 • (£92.00)

978-1-4985-0444-7 • Paperback • May 2016 • $54.99 • (£42.00)

978-0-7391-7976-5 • eBook • October 2014 • $52.00 • (£40.00)

Subjects: Philosophy / Social, Philosophy / Political, Social Science / Feminism & Feminist Theory, Social Science / Gender Studies, Social Science / Minority Studies, Social Science / Social Classes & Economic Disparity, Philosophy / Gender Philosophy, Philosophy / Philosophy of Love and Sex

Author

Matt L. Drabek is visiting assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Iowa and content specialist at ACT, Inc., a nonprofit education company.

Table of Contents

1 Practices: Embodied and Embedded
2 Scientific Classification: Feedback Bias in the Social Sciences
3 Classification in Psychiatry: BDSM and Gender Identity
4 Classification in Everyday Life: Pornography and Gender
Conclusion: Feedback and Public Debate

Reviews

Starting from provocative and engaging examples, Matt L. Drabek sets out an original approach to practices and their place in our everyday life. The book casts much-needed light on debates over our self-understanding and our relations to others, including controversies over gender identity, pornography, and psychiatric classification.
— David G. Stern, University of Iowa

Classify and Label

The Unintended Marginalization of Social Groups

Matt L. Drabek

Classify and Label

The Unintended Marginalization of Social Groups

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