Introduction

This introduction for "Rethinking Sex" frames the contributions of Gayle Rubin to the contemporary field of sexuality studies through a discussion of her 1984 essay "Thinking Sex." It discusses the 2009 conference that was the basis for this special issue as well as the significance of Rubin's career and her scholarship, focusing in particular on links between feminism and queer studies, empiricism and description, coalitional politics, and memory and the significance of archives.