LGBT Studies and Queer Theory: New Conflicts, Collaborations, and Contested Terrain / Edition 1

by Karen Lovaas

Overview

Find out how the tension between LGBT studies and queer theory exists in the classroom, politics, communities, and relationships

LGBT Studies and Queer Theory: New Conflicts, Collaborations, and Contested Terrain examines the similarities and differences between LGBT studies and queer theory and the uneasy relationship between the two in the academic world. This unique book meets the challenge that queer theory presents to the study and politics of gay and lesbian studies with a collection of essays from leading academics who represent a variety of disciplines. These original pieces place queer theory in social and historical contexts, exploring the implications for social psychology, religious studies, communications, sociology, philosophy, film studies, and women's studies. The book's contributors address queer theory's connections to a wide range of issues, including the development of capitalism, the evolution of the gay and lesbian movement, and the study of bisexuality and gender.

Many scholars working in gay and lesbian studies still question the intellectual and political value of queer theory. As a result, queer theory has often been concentrated in the humanities, while gay and lesbian studies are concentrated in the social sciences and history. But this has begun to change in the past 10-15 years, as documented by the 12 essays presented in LGBT Studies and Queer Theory: New Conflicts, Collaborations, and Contested Terrain.

LGBT Studies and Queer Theory: New Conflicts, Collaborations, and Contested Terrain includes:

• historical notes on LGBT studies and queer theory
• some continuing tensions between LGBT studies and queer theory
• doubts about whether queer theory can lead to social change
• an analysis of the current state of "proto-fields" of LGBT studies and queer studies in religion
• concerns that queer theory’s "erasure of identity" feeds into late capitalism
• an analysis of variability in social psychologists’studies of anti-homosexual prejudice
• an exploration of the commodification of queer identities in independent cinema
• how and why the category of bisexuality has been marginalized
• a historical review and assessment of recent bisexual theory
• a case study of Provincetown, Massachusetts
• an investigation of the interarticulation of race/ethnicity and gender
• a case study of the struggle to introduce LGBT studies in the curriculum at West Chester University
• and much more

LGBT Studies and Queer Theory: New Conflicts, Collaborations, and Contested Terrain is an essential read for researchers, academics, and practitioners involved in exploring multifaceted aspects of LGBT Studies and Queer Theory and their points of convergence and divergence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781560233169
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/22/2007
Pages:	372
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.38(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

• Foreword (Steven Seidman)
• Acknowledgments
• INTRODUCTION
• Shifting Ground(s): Surveying the Contested Terrain of LGBT Studies and Queer Theory (Karen E. Lovaas, John P. Elia, and Gust A. Yep)
• THEORETICAL DEBATES AND INTERVENTIONS
• Queer Theory, Late Capitalism, and International Homophobia (Max Kirsch)
• Anti-Homosexual Prejudice. . . as Opposed to What? Queer Theory and the Social Psychology of Anti-Homosexual Attitudes (Peter Hegarty and Sean Massey)
• Outlaws or In-Laws? Queer Theory, LGBT Studies, and Religious Studies (Melissa M. Wilcox)
• A Queer Anxiety: Assimilation Politics and Cinematic Hedonics in Relax. . . It’s Just Sex (Jeff Bennett)
• INTERVENTIONS
• Historicizing (Bi)Sexuality: A Rejoinder for Gay/Lesbian Studies, Feminism, and Queer Theory (Steven Angelides)
• Troubling the Canon: Bisexuality and Queer Theory (Mark A Gammon and Kirsten L. Isgro)
• Cape Queer? A Case Study of Provincetown, Massachusetts (Karen Christel Krahulik)
• Jewish Disappearing Acts and the Construction of Gender (Ruth D. Johnston)
• Desiring Mates (Dean Durber)
• CONTEXTS
• Teaching Queer Theory at a Normal School (Jen Bacon)
• Containing Uncertainty: Sexual Values and Citizenship (Claudia Schippert)
• Ferment in LGBT Studies and Queer Theory: Personal Ruminations on Contested Terrain (R. Anthony Slagle)
• Index
• Reference Notes Included

What People are Saying About This

Jeane W. Anastas

Grounded in multiple disciplines—communications, ethics, religion, cinema studies, and history—but individual entries also include sophisticated reviews of work in cultural studies, social science, politics, psychology, and even psychoanalysis. Attention is also paid to the problems that arise in teaching this content, finding a home for it in the academy, and managing a career for those who work on these topics. . . . WILL ENRICH THE UNDERSTANDING OF ISSUES IN QUEER AND LGBT SCHOLARSHIP FOR A BROAD RANGE OF AUDIENCES. (Jeane W. Anastas, PhD; Professor, School of Social Work, New York University; Editor, Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services)

Ken Plummer

Looks at capitalism, homophobia, religion, sexism and the spaces for visibility. It suggests critique, intersectionality and original research, and in all PROVIDES A VALUABLE, MAJOR CONTEMPORARY POSITIONING of the state of the field. MANY WILL READ IT AS A LANDMARK. (Ken Plummer, PhD, (Emeritus Professor, University of Essex, UK))

Ski Hunter

MOST USEFUL FOR READERS WHO DO NOT KNOW MUCH ABOUT THESE DISCIPLINES. The more specific articles focus on how the tensions between lesbian and gay studies and queer theory translate into various arenas of life. The reader can choose all or specific areas of interest to explore how they are enlightened by the views of these disciplines and the critiques of queer theory. (Ski Hunter, MSW, Ph.D. Professor, School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington)