The Unfinished Revolution: Social Movement Theory and the Gay and Lesbian Movement

by Stephen M. Engel

Overview

The Unfinished Revolution compares the post-Second World War histories of the American and British gay and lesbian movements with an eye toward understanding how distinct political institutional environments affect the development, strategies, goals, and outcomes of a social movement. The two case study chapters function as brief historical sketches that provide an introduction to British and American gay and lesbian history. An appendix provides a useful evaluative summary of common social movement theories. The book will be of value to academics and students of sociology, political science, and history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521802871
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	07/26/2001
Series:	Cambridge Cultural Social Studies
Pages:	254
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

Stephen M. Engel is an Assistant Professor of Politics at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. He holds a PhD in Political Science from Yale University as well as an MA in Social Thought from New York University and a BA in interdisciplinary social science from Wesleyan University. In 2007–8, he held a research fellowship at the American Bar Foundation where he conducted research on anti-Court activism in the United States. He is the author of American Politicians Confront the Court: Opposition Politics and Changing Responses to Judicial Power (Cambridge University Press, 2011). He has also published in Studies in American Political Development and Law and Social Inquiry.

Table of Contents

Introduction: opening remarks; 1. Asked and answered: how questions can condition conclusions in social movement theory; 2. Tracing the rainbow: an historical sketch of the American gay and lesbian movement; 3. Tracing the rainbow: an historical sketch of the English gay and lesbian movement; 4. Where and how it comes to pass: interest group interaction with political institutions; 5. Asking the unasked question: grappling with the culture variable; Conclusion: final thoughts.

Editorial Reviews

"In a comparative case study of US and British gay and lesbian movements since WWII, Engel engages new social movement theory and theories of collective action, integrating analysis of political opportunity structures into a political process model that accounts for the when and why of social mobilization.... A useful contribution to gay and lesbian studies and general social movement scholarship, especially in sociology." Choice

"The Unfinished Revolution is remarkable for the elegance of its intellectual architecture." The Gay & Lesbian Review

From the Publisher