The politics of scientific knowledge: Constructions of sexuality and ethics in the conversion therapy literature

Abstract

In this paper I explore some of the discursive practices that shape scientific knowledge in the debates surrounding conversion therapy. In doing so I identify some of the key rhetorical strategies that promote these debates as being within the realm of science, namely a reliance on foundationalist assumptions about ethics and sexuality, and the use of the ‘rhetoric of pseudoscience’ (Kitzinger, 1990) to construct what constitutes ‘good science’. Following this I point towards the individualism that informs scientific research, and what this means for lesbian and gay psychology more generally. I conclude by outlining possible directions for ‘setting our own agendas’ within the area, with particular focus on the importance of the political in critical research.