Ciara Cremin – författare

Nonbinary Life is an invitation to imagine the possibilities of life outside of gender. To write, to think, to imagine, to agitate, and to love without regard for gender is to lead a non-binary life. In this genre-defying work of autotheory, Marquis Bey proposes a radical refusal: to relinquish gender as a framework we carry - for ourselves and for others - and to embrace modes of being that exist outside of its grasp. Spanning questions of pronouns, masculinity, love, family, language, and even the Redwood National Forest, Nonbinary Life blends memoir and theory to provide a philosophical meditation on what it means to live beyond the binary

From broadsheet newspapers to television shows and Hollywood films, capitalism is increasingly recognised as a system detrimental to human existence. Colin Cremin investigates why, despite this de-robing, capitalism remains a powerful and seductive force.Using materialist, psychoanalytic and linguistic approaches, Cremin shows how capitalism, anxiety and desire enter into a mutually supporting relationship. He identifies three ways in which we are tied in to capitalism – through a social imperative for enterprise and competition; through enjoyment and consumption; and through the depoliticisation of ethical debate by government and business. Capitalism's New Clothes is ideal for students of sociology and for anyone worried about the ethics of capitalism or embarrassed by the enjoyments the system has afforded them.

Have you ever felt totalled? This book provides a utopian vision which could replace the overbearing truth that capitalism encompasses the entirety of our lives, weaving deep into the fabric of all that it means to be human. Through industrialised warfare, surveillance and commodification, deepening crises and ecological catastrophes, capitalism threatens the total destruction of human civilisation. But in amongst this wreckage there are still functioning parts which can be salvaged through the collective force of the human imagination and the mobilisation of the masses. To do so, we must realise a different future to the apocalypticism forewarned by scientists, prescribed by economists, accommodated by politicians and made spectacle by the entertainment industry. This book asks how a utopian possibility is discernible through the power of human creation. Can it be realised when as a society we are in different ways materially, ideologically and libidinally bound to the capitalist machine of destruction?

On July 27th, 2015, Colin Cremin overcame a lifetime of fear and repression and came to work dressed as a woman called Ciara. This book charts her personal journey as a male-to-female cross-dresser in the ever-changing world of gender politics. Interweaving the personal and the political, through discussions of fetishism, aesthetics and popular culture, Man-Made Woman explores gender, identity and pleasure through the lenses of feminism, Marxism and psychoanalytic theory. Cremin's anti-moralistic approach dismantles the abjection associated with male-to-female cross dressing, examining the causes of its repression, and considers what it means to publicly materialise desire on her body. Emancipatory and empowering: Cremin interrogates her, his and our relationship to the gender binary. Man-Made Woman is an experiment in thought and practice through which both author and reader are drawn ultimately into a conflict with our material, ideological and libidinal relationship to patriarchal-capitalism.

On July 27th, 2015, Colin Cremin overcame a lifetime of fear and repression and came to work dressed as a woman called Ciara. This book charts her personal journey as a male-to-female cross-dresser in the ever-changing world of gender politics. Interweaving the personal and the political, through discussions of fetishism, aesthetics and popular culture, Man-Made Woman explores gender, identity and pleasure through the lenses of feminism, Marxism and psychoanalytic theory. Cremin's anti-moralistic approach dismantles the abjection associated with male-to-female cross dressing, examining the causes of its repression, and considers what it means to publicly materialise desire on her body. Emancipatory and empowering: Cremin interrogates her, his and our relationship to the gender binary. Man-Made Woman is an experiment in thought and practice through which both author and reader are drawn ultimately into a conflict with our material, ideological and libidinal relationship to patriarchal-capitalism.

'A radical feminisation of the world' - McKenzie Wark, author of Reverse CowgirlWhat if the feminine holds the power to undo domination itself? In The Spectral Woman, Ciara Cremin reveals the feminine as the force which can abolish the rigid categories of sex and gender that sustain class exploitation, androcentrism and repression. With bold, incisive arguments, she explores the transformative potential of feminine jouissance, offering a radical path towards emancipation.Rejecting the myths of diversity, difference and individualism, she confronts the illusions of liberal humanism, arguing for a utopian femininity that challenges the psychic impairments perpetuated by capitalist, colonial and patriarchal systems.In a world haunted by the spectre of the transfeminine figure, Cremin sheds light on the profound potential to decolonise the unconscious and reimagine a future beyond oppression. The Spectral Woman is a bold manifesto for those willing to interrogate the structures that bind us, and envision their abolition.

Videogames are a unique artistic form, and to analyse and understand them an equally unique language is required. Cremin turns to Deleuze and Guattari’s non-representational philosophy to develop a conceptual toolkit for thinking anew about videogames and our relationship to them. Rather than approach videogames through a language suited to other media forms, Cremin invites us to think in terms of a videogame plane and the compositions of developers and players who bring them to life. According to Cremin, we are not simply playing videogames, we are creating them. We exceed our own bodily limitations by assembling forces with the elements they are made up of. The book develops a critical methodology that can explain what every videogame, irrespective of genre or technology, has in common and proceeds on this basis to analyse their differences. Drawing from a wide range of examples spanning the history of the medium, Cremin discerns the qualities inherent to those regarded as classics and what those qualities enable the player to do.Exploring Videogames with Deleuze and Guattari analyses different aspects of the medium, including the social and cultural context in which videogames are played, to develop a nuanced perspective on gendered narratives, caricatures and glorifications of war. It considers the processes and relationships that have given rise to industrial giants, the spiralling costs of making videogames and the pressure this places developers under to produce standard variations of winning formulas. The book invites the reader to embark on a molecular journey through worlds neither ‘virtual’ nor ‘real’ exceeding image, analogy and metaphor. With clear explanations and detailed analysis, Cremin demonstrates the value of a Deleuzian approach to the study of videogames, making it an accessible and valuable resource for students, scholars, developers and enthusiasts.

Videogames are a unique artistic form, and to analyse and understand them an equally unique language is required. Cremin turns to Deleuze and Guattari’s non-representational philosophy to develop a conceptual toolkit for thinking anew about videogames and our relationship to them. Rather than approach videogames through a language suited to other media forms, Cremin invites us to think in terms of a videogame plane and the compositions of developers and players who bring them to life. According to Cremin, we are not simply playing videogames, we are creating them. We exceed our own bodily limitations by assembling forces with the elements they are made up of. The book develops a critical methodology that can explain what every videogame, irrespective of genre or technology, has in common and proceeds on this basis to analyse their differences. Drawing from a wide range of examples spanning the history of the medium, Cremin discerns the qualities inherent to those regarded as classics and what those qualities enable the player to do.Exploring Videogames with Deleuze and Guattari analyses different aspects of the medium, including the social and cultural context in which videogames are played, to develop a nuanced perspective on gendered narratives, caricatures and glorifications of war. It considers the processes and relationships that have given rise to industrial giants, the spiralling costs of making videogames and the pressure this places developers under to produce standard variations of winning formulas. The book invites the reader to embark on a molecular journey through worlds neither ‘virtual’ nor ‘real’ exceeding image, analogy and metaphor. With clear explanations and detailed analysis, Cremin demonstrates the value of a Deleuzian approach to the study of videogames, making it an accessible and valuable resource for students, scholars, developers and enthusiasts.

Carnage in the classroom, misogynists in high office, sociopaths in uniform, masculinity is a killer. From styles of dress to the stunted capacity for expressing a diversity of emotions, becoming a man involves killing off and repudiating anything that in our society is held as feminine. When a person is unable to show compassion and tenderness, or when exposed for their frailties, feels angry and humiliated, they have problems. Problems that none of us are immune to. Masculinity, Cremin provocatively declares, is a generic disorder of a sick society that afflicts even the best of us. Neither a condition of being human nor even of male, it is a disorder, as she illustrates, of a capitalist society that depends and even thrives upon its very symptoms.From the perspective of a trans woman raised to be a man, the book maps the disorder and speculates on the possible means to overcome it. Instead of signifying weakness, catastrophes can be prevented when the qualities men often fear and women often feel subordinated to are prioritised, affirmed and nourished. Drawing, amongst others, on Marx and Freud, Cremin eloquently demonstrates why there can be no future other than one in which we are all reconciled as a society with the feminine. In such a future, the terms ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ will neither define us nor determine our relationship to one another.

Carnage in the classroom, misogynists in high office, sociopaths in uniform, masculinity is a killer. From styles of dress to the stunted capacity for expressing a diversity of emotions, becoming a man involves killing off and repudiating anything that in our society is held as feminine. When a person is unable to show compassion and tenderness, or when exposed for their frailties, feels angry and humiliated, they have problems. Problems that none of us are immune to. Masculinity, Cremin provocatively declares, is a generic disorder of a sick society that afflicts even the best of us. Neither a condition of being human nor even of male, it is a disorder, as she illustrates, of a capitalist society that depends and even thrives upon its very symptoms.From the perspective of a trans woman raised to be a man, the book maps the disorder and speculates on the possible means to overcome it. Instead of signifying weakness, catastrophes can be prevented when the qualities men often fear and women often feel subordinated to are prioritised, affirmed and nourished. Drawing, amongst others, on Marx and Freud, Cremin eloquently demonstrates why there can be no future other than one in which we are all reconciled as a society with the feminine. In such a future, the terms ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ will neither define us nor determine our relationship to one another.

Putting Deleuze and Guattari’s concepts to wide-ranging use, leading trans theorists and activists develop innovative ways of thinking about trans identities, and the processes involved in liberating desires from the gendered ego. The first volume of its kind covers a broad mix of subjects including transecology, corporalities of betweenness, black transversality, toxic masculinity, and transvestism.Led by the overarching concept of schizonalaysis and responding to the need to move beyond the hetero-patriarchy currently dominating both progressive and regressive discourse, Ciara Cremin outlines the potential for radical departure from the status quo concerning gender identity, sex, bodies, and politics. Arguing that trans people are at the forefront of debates on gendered dichotomies as a result of becoming something other than their assigned gender, Cremin and her contributors theorise the possibility of a society which does not rely on gendered forms of oppression for its existence. Deleuze, Guattari and the Schizoanalysis of Trans Studies is an essential, ground-breaking resource for theorists, activists and students interested in trans theory today.

Putting Deleuze and Guattari’s concepts to wide-ranging use, leading trans theorists and activists develop innovative ways of thinking about trans identities, and the processes involved in liberating desires from the gendered ego. The first volume of its kind covers a broad mix of subjects including transecology, corporalities of betweenness, black transversality, toxic masculinity, and transvestism.Led by the overarching concept of schizonalaysis and responding to the need to move beyond the hetero-patriarchy currently dominating both progressive and regressive discourse, Ciara Cremin outlines the potential for radical departure from the status quo concerning gender identity, sex, bodies, and politics. Arguing that trans people are at the forefront of debates on gendered dichotomies as a result of becoming something other than their assigned gender, Cremin and her contributors theorise the possibility of a society which does not rely on gendered forms of oppression for its existence. Deleuze, Guattari and the Schizoanalysis of Trans Studies is an essential, ground-breaking resource for theorists, activists and students interested in trans theory today.

What is gender? What should gender look like in the 21st century? This book brings together philosophy with insights from feminist and transgender theory to argue for gender pluralism: that there should be more than two genders, and that each gender term should have multiple meanings. Developing an explicitly political version of conceptual engineering, What Gender Should Be contains novel and powerful arguments both against existing theories of gender such as family resemblance accounts and against gender abolition, underlining how each is insufficient for thinking about and doing justice to contemporary transgender identities and politics. Instead, Matthew J. Cull argues that we should be pluralists about gender, putting forward and advocating for a position that is more apt for contemporary transgender and feminist activism. The 21st century requires a new way of thinking about gender. What Gender Should Be sets out to provide it.

What is gender? What should gender look like in the 21st century? This book brings together philosophy with insights from feminist and transgender theory to argue for gender pluralism: that there should be more than two genders, and that each gender term should have multiple meanings. Developing an explicitly political version of conceptual engineering, What Gender Should Be contains novel and powerful arguments both against existing theories of gender such as family resemblance accounts and against gender abolition, underlining how each is insufficient for thinking about and doing justice to contemporary transgender identities and politics. Instead, Matthew J. Cull argues that we should be pluralists about gender, putting forward and advocating for a position that is more apt for contemporary transgender and feminist activism. The 21st century requires a new way of thinking about gender. What Gender Should Be sets out to provide it.

Providing the first introduction to the key scholars, theories and debates in trans studies, Transgender Theory is an expansive and inclusive contribution to a nascent field. Each chapter offers a distinct and interconnected perspective on the various intersections of transgender lives and struggles around the world. From its prehistory (before the term transgender was common currency) through to the latest scholarship, the book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of trans scholarship. The narrative is deepened through the co-authors' (one a trans woman the other a trans man) personal perspectives and insights on being trans / becoming woman and man. The book speaks directly to those who are questioning their designated gender, coming out as trans or non-binary or, like the authors, undergoing an unending process of gender transition, a transition without destination.

Providing the first introduction to the key scholars, theories and debates in trans studies, Transgender Theory is an expansive and inclusive contribution to a nascent field. Each chapter offers a distinct and interconnected perspective on the various intersections of transgender lives and struggles around the world. From its prehistory (before the term transgender was common currency) through to the latest scholarship, the book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of trans scholarship. The narrative is deepened through the co-authors' (one a trans woman the other a trans man) personal perspectives and insights on being trans / becoming woman and man. The book speaks directly to those who are questioning their designated gender, coming out as trans or non-binary or, like the authors, undergoing an unending process of gender transition, a transition without destination.

For decades, trans studies and queer theory have treated the trans body as a theoretical construct – a site for identity, dysphoria, and gender politics – leaving erotic realities largely unexamined. Desire, pleasure, and real sex has been pushed to the margins, rendered almost unspeakable.This book challenges that silence. It asks why sexuality – once a privileged site of inquiry in queer theory – has all but vanished from trans scholarship, and what this erasure reveals about the politics of respectability, cisnormativity, and the lingering discomfort with bodies that refuse to behave “properly.”Through rigorous analysis and intimate narrative, the book explores how bodies do things – and how different bodies do different things – shaping possibilities for desire, sensation, and intimacy. It interrogates the cultural and academic forces that have de-sexed trans subjects, examines the aesthetic and linguistic struggles around naming and eroticizing trans bodies, and charts a path toward a trans studies that embraces the messy, fleshy, and truly human dimensions of sexuality.Both provocative and personal, this book insists that there can be no real account of gender without a reckoning with sex. It is a call to bring pleasure back into the conversation – not as an afterthought, but as a vital site of knowledge, resistance, and joy.

For decades, trans studies and queer theory have treated the trans body as a theoretical construct – a site for identity, dysphoria, and gender politics – leaving erotic realities largely unexamined. Desire, pleasure, and real sex has been pushed to the margins, rendered almost unspeakable.This book challenges that silence. It asks why sexuality – once a privileged site of inquiry in queer theory – has all but vanished from trans scholarship, and what this erasure reveals about the politics of respectability, cisnormativity, and the lingering discomfort with bodies that refuse to behave “properly.”Through rigorous analysis and intimate narrative, the book explores how bodies do things – and how different bodies do different things – shaping possibilities for desire, sensation, and intimacy. It interrogates the cultural and academic forces that have de-sexed trans subjects, examines the aesthetic and linguistic struggles around naming and eroticizing trans bodies, and charts a path toward a trans studies that embraces the messy, fleshy, and truly human dimensions of sexuality.Both provocative and personal, this book insists that there can be no real account of gender without a reckoning with sex. It is a call to bring pleasure back into the conversation – not as an afterthought, but as a vital site of knowledge, resistance, and joy.