Suchergebnisse

Explores the differential political effects created by the production of knowledge & culture of lesbian & gay life by community intellectuals vs university intellectuals. It is suggested that a tension has always existed between these groups because of their differential access to resources of authority. The examples of the spread of camp & the idea of safe sex show that community intellectuals can exercise profound influence in shaping a sense of collective identity; however, the forms of vernacular knowledge they use are inherently fluid & unstable. Academic intellectuals are in a much stronger position to exercise cultural authority, because they have access to the material & symbolic power bestowed by academia. It is argued that the continued progress of cultural politics in the gay & lesbian community requires both vernacular & disciplinary knowledges so that the community can strenghten its solidarity while maintaining its legitimacy. D. M. Smith

The interface between an institution concerned with the administration of justice (the London Police Dept) & the body is examined, using as points of departure a London map used to investigate sex-related offenses (homosexuality & prostitution) & a London police report on plainclothes officers' surveillance of public lavatories. These documents present law as a cartographic technology that produces a spatial order for law & a set of practices of the body as legal technique. The map portrays the landscape of bodily perversion in London. Policing is accomplished with the visible body as agent, or the invisible body in the case of surveillance. When policing a public urinal, the public/private nature of this space & the corporeal practices generating the space are ambivalent. 23 References. M. Pflum

The ascription of lesbianism to the butch body is examined historically, through the pathologization of homosexuality in 19th-century sexology to the more recent elevation of the butch body in lesbianism. The other site of the pride/shame dichotomy in lesbianism is the stone butch, both the ideal & abjected sense of butchness. The reality of a butch body with its erotic surfaces & lines of force, the butch performance as a sense of autonomous embodiment, & the instability of the butch configuration are discussed. 13 References. M. Pflum

Draws on documentary & academic/popular writings & research on friendship among gay men & lesbians to focus on the nature & functions of friendships in the gay male community, highlighting their potential for enacting sociopolitical change in the larger heteronormative society. The nature of communities as potential bases for social action is discussed, & the unique sense of community created among homosexuals, particularly in urban areas, is described. Gay males' perceptions of friendship are reported, drawing on narrative data obtained via interviews & questionnaires from 191 respondents, emphasizing the sense of belonging, acceptance, & identity that they foster. 40 References. K. Hyatt Stewart

Reflects on the experience of participating in the gay & lesbian protest in San Francisco, CA, against the Persian Gulf War. Gays & lesbians have considerable political clout in San Francisco, especially since 1990, when three of the eight members of the Board of Supervisors were openly gay. Further, because of its experience of organizing in the face of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome epidemic, the gay & lesbian community has developed important skills, resources, & traditions for political activism. However, the mainstream press rarely portrayed the extent of gay & lesbian involvement in the antiwar protest. To become more visible & politically effective, it is suggested that gays & lesbians form larger coalitions with other subordinate groups to express their grievances. The university is an excellent place to mobilize across groups. While it is acknowledged that racism & homophobia pervade the university as they do all institutions in US society, gays & lesbians must work to break down these walls if positive change is to occur. D. M. Smith

Chronicles the development of the lesbian & gay movement in VT, focusing on activists' pursuit of a politics of recognition based on identity as a minority group. Data are drawn from movement documents, informant interviews, secondary sources, & activist accounts. A distinction is made between ethnic identity & queer strategies of identity construction in the political realm, comparing their "essentialist" vs "antinormalizing" tendencies. The intersection between the law, the state, & identity construction is examined, demonstrating how it contributed to overcoming diversity & binding gay & lesbian social movements into a cross-gender alliance for homosexual rights beginning in the early 1980s. 1 Table. K. Hyatt Stewart

Chronicles the development of the lesbian & gay movement in VT, focusing on activists' pursuit of a politics of recognition based on identity as a minority group. Data are drawn from movement documents, informant interviews, secondary sources, & activist accounts. A distinction is made between ethnic identity & queer strategies of identity construction in the political realm, comparing their "essentialist" vs "antinormalizing" tendencies. The intersection between the law, the state, & identity construction is examined, demonstrating how it contributed to overcoming diversity & binding gay & lesbian social movements into a cross-gender alliance for homosexual rights beginning in the early 1980s. 1 Table. K. Hyatt Stewart

The "new men's studies scholarship" is critiqued & directions are outlined for the development of a new Chicano/Latino dimension in men's studies, arguing that these ethnic groups have been largely ignored in theory & research. A particularly egregious omission has been recognition of gay Chicano/Latino males & their position in these traditionally "macho" societies. Lessons to be gleaned from feminist studies of oppression among Chicanas/Latinas are reviewed. 30 References. K. Hyatt Stewart

Postmodern theories of subjectivity, identity, & agency are applied to an analysis of the ways that masculinity is constructed by cultural scripts of normativity. Various sites of resistance to the centrality & power of such scripts in Western society are described, including resistance to the heterosexual matrix & profeminist activities by men. Ways that identity & coalition politics can be utilized to overcome dominant conceptualizations of masculinity & forge new masculine identities are outlined. 23 References. K. Hyatt Stewart

Considers the production & conduct of politicized identities, eg, those of gays & lesbians, in late-capitalist societies to ascertain the kinds of political strategies that might be effective for these groups. The production of politicized identities in this period is taken to be a consequence of late-modern capitalist, liberal, disciplinary, & bureaucratic processes instrinsic to the period. Politicized identities have arisen in protest against this period's liberalism & its disciplinary instruments. To the extent that these identities posit a unified "we" disciplined by a fixed "they," they merely reiterate the term of the liberal discourse they seek to transcend & often end in a similar regulative, disciplinary, political program. This tendency to reiterate the terms of one's oppression is symptomatic of the politicized identity's desire in liberal-bureaucratic regimes. Friedrich Nietzsche's (1969) notion of forgetting is proposed as one method by which politicized identities may reorient their investments & so create more emancipatory political projects. D. M. Smith

Examines factors promoting gay & lesbian involvement in militant public activism against acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the late 1980s & compares this participation to their earlier, more conventional engagement in interest-group politics. It is argued that the AIDS issue aroused intense emotions that shook gays out of their previous ambivalence toward issues related to their sexuality & their roles in society. External political opportunity factors are linked to internal emotional factors to explain homosexual political mobilization surrounding AIDS & gays' willingness to actively & militantly take their battle into the streets; illustrative examples are offered from Chicago (IL), San Francisco (CA), & New York City. A case study is offered of the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power (ACT UP), the predominant organization of militant gays & lesbians against AIDS, detailing factors that led to its emergence & evolution. Implications for social movement theory in general, particularly regarding the salience of emotional factors, are discussed. K. Hyatt Stewart

Research conducted in a town in OR is drawn on to analyze the context surrounding the highly contentious initiatives proposed by the Christian Right to deny civil rights protections to gays & lesbians. Interviews conducted with 8 members of the Oregon Citizens Alliance reveal the strong emotional components underlying the commitment of these Christian conservatives to their position. Beyond ostensibly selfless appeals to God, nation, & family values, their motivations are shown to encompass hopes of "self-realization," & their activism to serve a "reparative" function. The logic of these emotions is explored, along with ways that participation in the larger movement against gay & lesbian rights gives public voice to such private emotional needs. Of particular salience is the emotion of shame, which is manipulated by the Christian Right in pursuit of its own political goals; psychoanalytic explanations of this shame & its role in the activists' vehement opposition to homosexuality are proffered. K. Hyatt Stewart

The Dutch model of cooperative governance was relatively effective in reducing the number of hemophiliacs exposed to HIV through the blood supply, with only 13% contacting HIV compared to 35% throughout Europe & 81% in France. In the Netherlands, the Red Cross blood banks controlled the blood supply with the principle of voluntary, unpaid blood donation. A policy network of relevant actors formulated six responses to the problem of HIV-contaminated blood & blood products, including encouraging high-risk groups to refrain from donating & other measures ensuring the use of concentrated heated blood products. In the 1990s, this programmatic response was the center of public debate & controversy regarding hemophiliac concern about negligence in government policy as well as homosexual accusations of discrimination. This perceived loss of effectiveness & legitimacy is traced to the distinction between network & governmental responsibility, the horizontal & vertical modes of interaction to enhance both mechanisms. The government was found lacking in policy initiatives, strict state regulations, & coercive interventions. 3 Tables. L. A. Hoffman

An introductory chapter examines the principles, ideas, & emotions involved in "oppositional consciousness," defined as the claiming of a positive identification by groups previously seen as having subordinate or deviant identities. It is maintained that oppositional consciousness is an intermediate variable that seriously impacts the dynamics of social movements. Although it usually is a positive influence, oppositional consciousness can sometimes have a negative effect on social movements, especially in terms of exaggerating differences. The meanings of group subordination, oppression, & consciousness are discussed, along with the complex patterns of negotiation, struggle, harmony/dissension, borrowing, & artfulness that characterize the formation of oppositional consciousness. It is noted that the contributors analyze oppositional consciousness within such diverse groups as African Americans, people with disabilities, sexually harassed women, Chicano workers, & gays/lesbians to reveal common structural similarities among them based on their subordinate positions in a system of domination. Ways cultural forms/institutions can be appropriated & transformed to create oppositional consciousness are explored. A brief synopsis of each study is included. J. Lindroth

Against purely rationalist explanations of social movement participation -- particularly the resource mobilization perspective -- explored here is the role of emotional factors, specifically, shame & loneliness, & their transformation into pride & solidarity as a result of participation. Social aspects of individual emotional experiences are discussed via a review of previous theory & research. Shame & pride are discussed as "social emotions" that can be induced by particular behaviors. Ways that social movements create & utilize "emotional capital" to mobilize participants & motivate them to engage in collective action are described. A model is developed to depict the processes of emotion transformation involved in the identity politics of social movements; the gay pride movement is offered as illustration. 1 Figure, 49 References. K. Hyatt Stewart