This is the first book to provide an in-depth sociological examination of the contemporary social and material conditions of health for transgender people. It draws upon the findings of a six-year ethnographic project in the United Kingdom that looked at the challenges faced by trans patients and the practitioners who work with them. Ruth Pearce shows that patients and practitioners are frequently divided by their different understandings of what it means for someone to be trans, a situation that is complicated by the operation of professional power within medical settings and that has profound consequences for both healthcare provision and for trans communities more widely.
Ruth Pearce is a researcher and tutor based in the sociology department at the University of Warwick.
Ruth Pearce is a Research Fellow in the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds. Her research looks at patterns of inequality, marginalisation, power, and political struggle in institutional contexts, with a focus on trans, queer, and women’s issues.