February brings a powerful new cohort of books by Ideas on Fire authors—projects that interrogate the logics of sex and gender, expose the mechanics of state power and secrecy, trace the intimate afterlives of war and policing, and imagine more just futures for migrant and trans communities.
We’re proud to have supported these authors through the long, rigorous work of bringing deeply interdisciplinary, field-shaping scholarship into print.
Working on a book of your own? Our editorial team partners with scholars at every stage of the process, offering developmental editing, copyediting, mannuscript reviews, indexing, and publisher research to help ambitious ideas reach their fullest expression. Learn more here.
Trans Pleasure: On Gender Liberation and Sexual Freedom
Brandon Andrew Robinson
University of California Press
A bold and joyful celebration of trans femmes’ pursuit of erotic freedom and gender liberation.
Sex Isn't Real: The Invention of an Incoherent Binary
Beans Velocci
A rigorous critique of current erasures of trans life through a history of how and why binary sex categories were invented.
Sanctuary Making: Immigrant Families Reshaping Geographies of Deportability
Carolina Valdivia
University of California Press
A poignant tribute to immigrant families creating safety and hope amid expanding anti-immigrant state violence.
Atomic Bombshells: How Plastics Shaped Postwar Bodies
Isabelle Held
A vivid history of how plastics transformed gendered bodies and cultural forms in postwar America
The Violence of Protection: Policing, Immigration Law, and Asian American Women
Lee Ann S. Wang
An abolitionist feminist critique of how state protection laws like VAWA produce racialized policing and harm survivors.
Sovereign, Settler, Leaker, Lie: Forms of the Secret in US Political Rhetoric
Atilla Hallsby
A fascinating analysis of the role of secrets in US politics, governance, and surveillance practices.
