Acknowledgments xi

Empires of Love: An Introduction 1

1. Rotten Worlds 27

2. Spiritual Freedom, Cultural Copyright 95

3. The Intimate Event and Genealogical Society 175

Notes 237

Bibliography 257

“The Empire of Love has much to offer, not least of which is a vision of how an anthropologist might keep vigil with the wounds that liberalism inscribes on bodies and minds. . . . [A] brave and useful book.” — Danilyn Rutherford, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

“The Empire of Love is a remarkable book which is theoretically ambitious as it is compelling. It makes a very significant critical contribution to thinking sexuality in the operations of liberal governance, to open up and reinvigorate this field of analysis and theoretical intervention.” — Silvia Posocco, Darkmatter

“[A] lively and engaging style. . . . [T]he final chapter of the book is absorbing reading and should be a set text for students in women’s and queer studies.” — Helen Pringle, Australian Journal of Political Science

“[A] unique work by a unique author.” — Sonia Ryang, American Anthropologist

“[A]n important contribution to understanding how 'heterotopias', or spaces of otherness, continue to be constructed and performed (sometimes even despite agents' intentions) by those who resist all imperial hegemonizing of the social field—in this case one which aims to solve the 'problem' of difference and equality through the production of identical liberal agents with intimate selves that are immanently governable. It will be important reading for all those interested in liberal colonial governance, post-colonial theory, queer theory or studies in biopolitics.” — Robert Lee Nichols, Theory and Event

“[T]here are some great insights and vivid examples . . . and the whole project is animated by a passionate concern about the real dilemmas and material consequences of life and lobe. In these ways, Povinelli amply demonstrates the virtues of transcending ‘sexuality studies’ as a think unto itself—a ghettoized scholarly domain.” — Steven Epstein, American Journal of Sociology

“Elizabeth Povinelli's new book, The Empire of Love, elaborates a stronger way of understanding what goes by the name of identity.” — Elspeth Probyn, Criticism

“The great strength of Povinelli’s work is the introduction of a way of thinking about the interconnectedness of individual experiences and indeed the contingency of one’s experience on the existence of another.” — Damien W. Riggs, Continuum

“This is a fresh, original and compelling text from an author with a diverse cultural and academic background. . . . [A] text of originality, insight and considerable charm. Decades of close engagement with individuals and groups from hidden, suppressed, misunderstood and frequently maligned cultures (and subcultures) have served Povinelli well.” — Graeme Lyle La Macchia, Griffith Law Review

“The Empire of Love has much to offer, not least of which is a vision of how an anthropologist might keep vigil with the wounds that liberalism inscribes on bodies and minds. . . . [A] brave and useful book.” —Danilyn Rutherford, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

“The Empire of Love is a remarkable book which is theoretically ambitious as it is compelling. It makes a very significant critical contribution to thinking sexuality in the operations of liberal governance, to open up and reinvigorate this field of analysis and theoretical intervention.” —Silvia Posocco, Darkmatter

“[A] lively and engaging style. . . . [T]he final chapter of the book is absorbing reading and should be a set text for students in women’s and queer studies.” —Helen Pringle, Australian Journal of Political Science

“[A] unique work by a unique author.” —Sonia Ryang, American Anthropologist

“[A]n important contribution to understanding how 'heterotopias', or spaces of otherness, continue to be constructed and performed (sometimes even despite agents' intentions) by those who resist all imperial hegemonizing of the social field—in this case one which aims to solve the 'problem' of difference and equality through the production of identical liberal agents with intimate selves that are immanently governable. It will be important reading for all those interested in liberal colonial governance, post-colonial theory, queer theory or studies in biopolitics.” —Robert Lee Nichols, Theory and Event

“[T]here are some great insights and vivid examples . . . and the whole project is animated by a passionate concern about the real dilemmas and material consequences of life and lobe. In these ways, Povinelli amply demonstrates the virtues of transcending ‘sexuality studies’ as a think unto itself—a ghettoized scholarly domain.” —Steven Epstein, American Journal of Sociology

“Elizabeth Povinelli's new book, The Empire of Love, elaborates a stronger way of understanding what goes by the name of identity.” —Elspeth Probyn, Criticism

“The great strength of Povinelli’s work is the introduction of a way of thinking about the interconnectedness of individual experiences and indeed the contingency of one’s experience on the existence of another.” —Damien W. Riggs, Continuum

“This is a fresh, original and compelling text from an author with a diverse cultural and academic background. . . . [A] text of originality, insight and considerable charm. Decades of close engagement with individuals and groups from hidden, suppressed, misunderstood and frequently maligned cultures (and subcultures) have served Povinelli well.” —Graeme Lyle La Macchia, Griffith Law Review

“Elizabeth A. Povinelli’s Empire of Love is a stunning achievement, tracking the intricate connections between forms of liberal governance and forms of love in the contemporary world. Povinelli renounces any temptation to take the highway of thought and instead takes the reader on a journey in which worlds known and less-known are slowly and patiently explored and shared. This is a book that touches the soul.” — Veena Das, Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Anthropology, Johns Hopkins University

“What a brilliant book. Elizabeth A. Povinelli strives to make all the intellectual moves that need to be made today: connecting studies of sexuality to other phenomena that seem to be unrelated, thus opening out what gets to count as ‘sexuality’; thinking about sexuality in relation to liberal governance; and moving us beyond the binary opposition of freedom versus constraint. These arguments are refreshing as well as pressing for our times.” — Lisa Rofel, author of, Desiring China

“Writing in this exquisite and courageous book of her experiences of community at opposite ends of the world, Elizabeth A. Povinelli meditates here on everything that both links and divides Australian indigenes from North American radical faeries—and, in so doing, provides us with an astonishing account of embodied intimacies caught between global discourses of individual freedom and social constraint.” — Andrew Parker, editor of, The Philosopher and His Poor by Jacques Rancière

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