Producing Trans economicus: Deploying Market Logic in the Fight for Trans Rights
Keywords:
trans rights, social policy, neoliberalism, market logic, human capitalAbstract
This article analyzes how market logic is deployed to secure trans rights under neoliberalism in Canada and the U.S. I argue that by embodying the ‘ideal’ neoliberal subject, productive trans persons are granted access to state institutions and social services, including transition-related medical care. This is achieved through the accumulation of what Foucault (2008) calls “human capital” and appealing to market logic (cost-benefit analysis). While doing so may afford certain trans people – namely white, affluent, and able-bodied – increased access to services and material success, it ultimately reinforces neoliberal logic, further obscuring and exacerbating social and economic inequalities. I argue that trans persons who achieve material success are upheld as ‘proof’ that neoliberalism functions as a meritocracy, shifting the burden of social and economic responsibility away from the state and onto the individual.
Résumé
Cet article fait l’analyse critique de la défense des droits des personnes transgenre au Canada et aux États-Unis sous des politiques néolibérales. Mon argument est que les personnes transgenres performantes ont accès aux institutions et aux services publics, y compris les soins médicaux liés à la transition, si elles incarnent « l’idéal » néolibéral. Cet idéal est atteint à travers l’accumulation de « capital humain » comme le définit Foucault (2008) et de l’intérêt selon la logique du marché (analyses coûts-avantages). Bien que cette politique offre l’accès aux services et le succès matériel à certains transgenres — pour la plupart des blancs, riches et sans handicap — en fin de compte, la logique néolibérale est confortée, et les inégalités sociales et économiques obscurcies et exacerbées. Les personnes transgenres ayant réussi matériellement sont présentées comme étant la « preuve » que le néolibéralisme est un système qui offre l’égalité des chances. Le poids des responsabilités sociales et économiques est transféré à l’individu, privant de leurs droits les membres les plus marginalisés de la communauté transgenre.
Mots clés: Droits des transgenres ; politique sociale néolibérale ; logique du marché ; capital humain
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