Making Trouble: Essays on Gay History, Politics, and the University

by John D'Emilio

Overview

Combining historical and political analysis with autobiography and memoir, Making Trouble brings together the essays of John D‘Emilio, a pioneering gay historian and long-time movement activist.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415905107
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/14/1992
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	1,133,733
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Pioneering scholar, activist, and historian John D'Emilio has broken ground with books like The World Turned: Essays on Gay History, Politics, and Culture and his National Book Award-nominated biography Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin.

Hometown:

Chicago, Illinois

Date of Birth:

September 21, 1948

Place of Birth:

Bronx, New York

Education:

B.A., Columbia University, 1970; Ph.D., 1982

Table of Contents

Part One: Rewriting History 1. Capitalism and Gay Identity 2. Dreams Deferred: The Birth and Betrayal of America's First Gay Liberation Movement 3. The Homosexual Menace: The Politics of Sexuality in Cold War America 4. Gay Politics, Gay Community: San Francisco's Experience 5. Gay History: A New Field of Study Part Two: Remaking the University 6. The Universities and the Gay Experience 7. The Issue of Sexual Preference on College Campuses: Retrospect and Prospect 8. Not a Simple Matter: Gay History and Gay Historians 9. The Campus Environment for Gay and Lesbian Life 10. Inaugurating the First Lesbian and Gay Studies Department: San Francisco City College 11. Gay and Lesbian Studies: New Kid on the Block? 12. Graduation Day Part Three: Living Politics 13. Making and Unmaking Minorities: The Tension between Gay History and Politics 14. The Supreme Court and the Sodomy Statutes: Where Do We Go From Here? 15. Saturday Nights 16. Women Against Pormography: Feminist Frontier or Social Purity Crusade? 17. The Names Project Quilt: A People's Memorial 18. You Can't Build a Movement on Anger 19. A Generation of Progress 20. After Stonewall

Editorial Reviews

D'Emilio authored one of the pioneering studies of the birth of the gay movement, Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities. In this collection, he expands on that work, with forays into gay historiography, the rise of gay and lesbian studies in the university and further explorations of the history of gay and lesbian activism in the U.S. One of the author's greatest strengths is his ability to relate the personal to the political, using an illuminating detail from his own life where applicable to make a larger historical point. Thus, his own early sexual experiences in Times Square come into play in an incisive essay on Women Against Pornography, and the introduction recalls movingly his trajectory from working-class white ethnic kid to gay activist and scholar. Because it is a collection of essays, papers and speeches drawn from a fairly narrow period of time, the book is occasionally repetitive. However, D'Emilio is an engaging writer and a superb historian. The final essay, one of the longest in the book, is a quick history of the movement with particular attention to post-Stonewall (1969) activism; one fervently hopes that it is a hint of what D'Emilio's next book project will be. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gay historian, author, and activist D'Emilio has collected here 20 of his insightful personal and historical essays on the rise of gay scholarship in the United States. Topics range from the birth of a gay identity in post-World War II America to the crucial role that feminism played in turning the heretofore personal issues of gender and sex into social and political ones. He also scores a few more points in the continuing debate over homosexual behavior vs. gay identity. Positioning himself firmly on the radical side, D'Emilio advocates nothing less than a total reevaluation of our society's sexual paradigm. Although a single voice is heard in these essays, D'Emilio's call for gays and lesbians to move beyond minority status to one of freedom and choice, ``to embark on new journeys of sexual definition,'' may well be the rallying cry for renewed activism in the struggle for social justice. Highly recommended for academic libraries or larger public collections with informed lay readers.-- Jeffery Ingram, Newport P.L., Ore.

Library Journal

In 20 essays written over a period of almost 20 years, pioneering gay historian and movement activist D'Emilio explores the history of gay life since WWII, describes the courage and accomplishments of gay and lesbian activists, and surveys the vast effect of their movement for equality on American society, politics, and the university. No index. Paper edition (unseen), $15.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"Positioning himself firmly on the radical side, D'Emilio advocates nothing less than a total reevaluation of our society's sexual paradigm. Although a single voice is heard in these essays, D'Emilio's call for gays and lesbians to move beyond minority status to one of freedom and choice, ‘to embark on new journeys of sexual definition,' may well be the rallying cry for renewed activism in the struggle for social justice." — Library Journal

From the Publisher