Centre for the Study of Women and Gender Events
Our forthcoming events are listed below.
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For the full list of speakers in our Graduate Seminar series (2004 - present), click here.
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FeGS + CSWG Seminar: "Weaponising Safety: The Anti-Trans Backlash and the Carceral Politics of Gender in Britain"
You are warmly invited to join us for a seminar on
Weaponising Safety: The Anti-Trans Backlash and the Carceral Politics of Gender in Britain
featuring Prof Sarah Lamble (Birkbeck)
This will take place as follows:
- Wednesday, November 18th
- 15.00 to 17.00
- in LIB2
Abstract:
What explains the rapid rise of the anti-trans backlash in Britain, and why have disputes about trans rights become so polarised? This talk will trace the weaponisations of safety claims, and the assertion that trans right pose a threat to women and children, as key tactics in the acceleration of the organised anti-trans movement in Britain. Such appeals draw on carceral logics that equate protection with surveillance, policing, exclusion, and punishment, while obscuring the structural conditions that produce material insecurity, violence and harm. Challenging the anti-trans backlash therefore requires more than defending trans people against demonising attacks; it requires a fundamental rethinking of safety politics more broadly and the carceral assumptions that underpin them. The talk will conclude by setting out a more transformative vision of safety, one that is rooted in collective care, socio-economic security and radical solidarity.
Speaker Bio:
Sarah Lamble is Professor of Criminology & Queer Theory at Birkbeck, University of London. Their research focusses on queer/feminist critiques of carceral politics, state violence, and the limits of punitive approaches to addressing harm. Lamble is co-founder of the Bent Bars Project, a letter-writing and solidarity project for LGBTQ+ prisoners in Britain, and Abolitionist Futures, which builds resources and education around alternatives to police, prisons and punishment. Lamble is the author of Unsafe: The carceral roots of the anti-trans backlash (Haymarket Books 2026).
This event is free and open to all, but advance registration is required.
To register for a place, CLICK HERE.
If you have any questions about the event, please email cswg-events@warwick.ac.uk
If you have accessibility requirements or there are any adjustments we can make to support your full participation, you can let us know through the booking page above.
This event is being organised by the Feminism, Gender and Sexuality Research Cluster and the Centre for the Study of Women and Gender.