Sexuality

A Green New Deal for Social Work

Citation:

Bhuyan, Rupaleem, Stéphanie Wahab, and Yoosun Park. 2019. "A Green New Deal for Social Work." Affilia 34 (3): 289-94.

Authors: Rupaleem Bhuyan, Stephanie Wahab, Yoosun Park

Annotation:

Summary:
"In this editorial, we consider what climate action would mean for the social work profession. We first review some of the Green New Deal proposals in the United Kingdom, Canada, and in the United States that emerged in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis. We then discuss scholarship from a growing contingent of scholars who outline environmental, sustainable, and ecological frameworks for social work research and practice. Drawing upon ecofeminist and decolonial praxis, we then consider the potential for what Malin and Ryder (2018) calls a “deeply intersectional” framework that addresses “intersecting forms of structural environmental injustice and dominant ideologies that operate as classist, racist, sexist, nativist, ableist, homophobic, and anthropocentric matrices of domination” (p. 1). Whether or not the Green New Deal proposals are politically feasible amid the rise of Trump-styled right-wing populism, the urgency to address climate change compels social work practitioners, educators, and researchers to embrace Grace Lee Bogg’s suggestion “not to continue in the same old way” but to embrace a vision of social work that is committed to restoring human well-being and the natural world" (Bhuyan et al 2019, 290).

Topics: Class, Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Environment, Feminisms, Ecofeminism, Gender, Intersectionality, Livelihoods, Race, Sexuality Regions: Americas, North America, Europe, Northern Europe Countries: Canada, United Kingdom, United States of America

Year: 2019

Climate Systems, Carbon-Heavy Masculinity, and Feminist Exposure

Citation:

Alaimo, Stacy. 2016. "Climate Systems, Carbon-Heavy Masculinity, and Feminist Exposure." In Exposed: Environmental Politics and Pleasures in Posthuman Times, 91-108. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Keywords: environmentalism, global warming, gender, cultural studies, posthumanism, feminism, feminist theory, materialism, sexuality

Annotation:

Summary:
The fourth chapter investigates the significance of gender in relation to global warming, arguing that a feminist response to climate change must not only challenge the ostensibly universal, transcendent perspective of big science and the hegemonic masculinity of impenetrable, aggressive consumption, but also the tendency within feminist organizations and NGOs to reinforce gendered polarities, heteronormativity, and the view of nature as a resource for domestic use. The chapter offers a politics of “insurgent vulnerability,” biodiversity, and sexual diversity as an alternative.

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Feminisms, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, NGOs, Sexuality

Year: 2016

Partners in Conflict: the Politics of Gender, Sexuality, and Labor in the Chilean Agrarian Reform, 1950-1973

Citation:

Tinsman, Heidi. 2002. Partners in Conflict: The Politics of Gender, Sexuality, and Labor in the Chilean Agrarian Reform, 1950-1973. Durham: Duke University Press.

Author: Heidi Tinsman

Annotation:

Summary:
Partners in Conflict examines the importance of sexuality and gender to rural labor and agrarian politics during the last days of Chile’s latifundia system of traditional landed estates and throughout the governments of Eduardo Frei and Salvador Allende. Heidi Tinsman analyzes differences between men’s and women’s participation in Chile’s Agrarian Reform movement and considers how conflicts over gender and sexuality shape the contours of working-class struggles and national politics.
Tinsman restores women to a scholarly narrative that has been almost exclusively about men, recounting the centrality of women’s labor to the pre-Agrarian Reform world of the hacienda  during the 1950s and recovering women’s critical roles in union struggles and land occupations during the Agrarian Reform itself. Providing a theoretical framework for understanding why the Agrarian Reform ultimately empowered men more than women, Tinsman argues that women were marginalized not because the Agrarian Reform ignored women but because, under both the Frei and Allende governments, it promoted the male-headed household as the cornerstone of a new society. Although this emphasis on gender cooperation stressed that men should have more respect for their wives and funneled unprecedented amounts of resources into women’s hands, the reform defined men as its protagonists and affirmed their authority over women.
This is the first monographic social history of Chile’s Agrarian Reform in either English or Spanish, and the first historical work to make sexuality and gender central to the analysis of the reforms. (Summary from Duke University Press)
 
Table of Contents
1. Patrón and Peón: Labor and Authority on the Great Estates 
 
2. Binding Ties: Campesino Sexuality and Family Negotiations
 
3. Making Men: Labor Mobilization and Agrarian Reform
 
4. Promoting Gender Mutualism: Rural Education, Mothers Centers, and Family Planning
 
5. Struggling for Land: Worker Bosses and Campesina Militants
 
6. Revolutionizing Women: Popular Unity and Female Mobilization
 
7. Coming Apart: Struggle, Sex, and Social Crisis
 

 

Topics: Agriculture, Conflict, Resource Conflict, Education, Gender, Women, Men, Gender Analysis, Households, Livelihoods, Rights, Land Rights, Sexuality Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Chile

Year: 2002

Traumatic Stress Among Sexual and Gender Minority Refugees from the Middle East, North African, and Asia who Fled to the European Union

Citation:

Alessi, Edward J., Sarilee Kahn, Leah Woolner, and Rebecca Van Der Horn. 2018. "Traumatic Stress Among Sexual and Gender Minority Refugees From the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia Who Fled to the European Union." Journal of Traumatic Stress 31 (6): 805-15.

Authors: Edward J. Alessi, Sarilee Kahn, Leah Woolner, Rebecca Van Der Horn

Abstract:

In 2015, more than 600,000 individuals from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan fled to Europe in search of protection. Among the most understudied of this population are individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ). These individuals have not only fled war but also violence due to their sexual and/or gender identities. At the same time, LGBTQ individuals from other parts of the Middle East, Central and South Asia, and North Africa have also fled to Europe to escape persecution. The purpose of this multimethod study was to understand how traumatic stress shaped the experiences of 38 LGBTQ individuals who fled to Austria (n = 19) and the Netherlands (n = 19) from these regions. We assessed participants for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and conducted qualitative interviews to understand their migration experiences. Of the 37 participants assessed for PTSD, 33 (89.2%) reported that their most distressing event occurred prior to migration. For the 24 (64.9%) participants who met criteria for a provisional diagnosis of PTSD, 15 reported that the precipitating event was related to their sexual and/or gender identities and 9 reported that it was related to another type of event (e.g., war). Grounded theory was used to analyze qualitative data. Themes demonstrated that participants encountered targeted violence and abuse throughout migration and upon their arrival in Austria and the Netherlands. Findings indicate that LGBTQ refugees may be vulnerable to ongoing trauma from other refugees and immigration officials. Recommendations for protecting and supporting LGBTQ refugees during humanitarian emergencies are provided.

 

Topics: Armed Conflict, Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Gender, Health, PTSD, Trauma, Humanitarian Assistance, Sexuality, Violence Regions: Africa, MENA, North Africa, Asia, Central Asia, Middle East, South Asia, Europe, Western Europe Countries: Afghanistan, Austria, Iraq, Netherlands, Syria

Year: 2018

Queer/Humanitarian Visibility: The Emergence of the Figure of The Suffering Syrian Gay Refugee

Citation:

Saleh, Fadi. 2020. "Queer/Humanitarian Visibility: The Emergence of the Figure of The Suffering Syrian Gay Refugee." Middle East Critique: Special Issue on Queering the Middle East 29 (1): 47-67. 

Author: Fadi Saleh

Abstract:

Prior to the Syrian uprisings in 2011, Syrian queer and trans* populations were rather unknown and irrelevant to global LGBT politics, Western media, and humanitarian efforts. This changed considerably after the uprisings as representations steadily increased and proliferated on social media and in journalistic accounts. This article traces this shift and argues that queer and trans* Syrians became visible primarily through a queer/humanitarian media-visibility paradigm and the construction, consolidation, and circulation of the figure of the suffering Syrian gay refugee. Drawing on analyses of what I consider pivotal events and media representations as well as journalistic writings, this article maps out the ways in which the figure of the suffering Syrian gay refugee and the associations it foregrounds emerged, circulated, and became normalized after the uprisings and years into the Syrian conflict. Furthermore, based on ethnographic fieldwork that I conducted with Syrian LGBT refugees in Istanbul during 2014 – 15, this article challenges the suitability of this figure as a knowledge production framework and suggests new research trajectories to approach, understand, and write Syrian queer and trans* histories beyond the queer/humanitarian visibility paradigm and the figure of the suffering Syrian gay refugee.

Keywords: gay, humanitarian visibility, media, queer, refugee, Syria, violence

Topics: Armed Conflict, Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Conflict, Media, LGBTQ, Sexuality, Violence Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East Countries: Syria

Year: 2020

Gay Girl in Damascus: Saving Brown Women from Brown Men in Syria

Citation:

Kuntz, Blair. 2019. "Gay Girl in Damascus: Saving Brown Women From Brown Men in Syria." Paper presented at International Conference on Gender Research, April.

Author: Blair Kuntz

Abstract:

This paper extracts the phrase "white women saving brown women from brown men" from Gita Spivak's celebrated essay " Can the Subaltern Speak?" and applies it to the various Western interventions that have used "crisis initiation" (i.e. false flags) using the theme of gender injustice to initiate "humanitarian interventions" in the Middle East, Libya and the Former Yugoslavia. The paper analyzes the hoax of the social media blog "Gay Girl of Damascus", which appeared at the beginning of the so-called "Syrian Uprising" of 2011 and examines how the hoax advanced the Western project for regime change in Syria. The blog purported to record the experiences of Amina Arraf who described herself as a Syrian-American lesbian living in Damascus. Eventually, on June 6, 2011, Amina's cousin claimed that Amina had been abducted by the Syrian government, sparking popular outrage in the Western LGBT community and widespread coverage within the Western mainstream media. In the end, the blog post was revealed to be a complete hoax and "Amina" was revealed to be Tom McMaster, a heterosexual American man living in Edinburgh. The paper discusses how Western "humanitarian interventions" have been used as a cynical justification for war and the theft of resources and how Western "imperial feminists" (who in turn transform into "white women saving brown women from brown men") have colluded in the endeavor. Rather than improving the circumstances for women and sexual minorities in the region, Western governments and their allies have worsened the situation as they have nurtured, encouraged and supported various jihadist rebels. The jihadist victims include the Yezidi women of Iraq taken as sex slaves; women killed for adultery; and gay men thrown off tall buildings, stoned to death or shot for allegedly practicing same-sex relations.

Keywords: imperial feminism, humanitarian intervention, Sexual minorities, middle east, Arab Spring

Topics: Conflict, Feminisms, Gender, Gendered Discourses, Media, Humanitarian Assistance, LGBTQ, Race, Sexuality Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East Countries: Syria

Year: 2019

Renegotiating Gender and the State in Tunisia between 2011 and 2014: Power, Positionality, and the Public Sphere

Citation:

Antonakis, Anna. 2019. Renegotiating Gender and the State in Tunisia between 2011 and 2014: Power, Positionality, and the Public Sphere. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.

Author: Anna Antonakis

Annotation:

Summary:
Anna Antonakis’ analysis of the Tunisian transformation process (2011-2014) displays how negotiations of gender initiating new political orders do not only happen in legal and political institutions but also in media representations and on a daily basis in the family and public space. While conventionalized as a “model for the region”, this book outlines how the Tunisian transformation missed to address social inequalities and local marginalization as much as substantial challenges of a secular but conservative gender order inscribed in a Western hegemonic concept of modernity. She introduces the concept of “dissembled secularism” to explain major conflict lines in the public sphere and the exploitation of gender politics in a context of post-colonial dependencies. 
 
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction
 
2. Positionalities, Modernity, and the Public Sphere
 
3. Constructing an Empirically Grounded Framework
 
4. The Nation State within the Matrix of Domination
 
5. Detecting the Matrix of Domination: a Historical Perspective
 
6. Counterpublic Resistance under Ben Ali's Rule
 
7. Challenging the Matrix of Domination
 
8. The Structural Dimension of the Public Sphere
 
9. The Representational Dimension of the Public Sphere
 
10. The Interactional Dimension of the Public Sphere
 
11. Conclusion
 
12. Outlook: Negotiating Homosexualities in Tunisia: Inclusions and Exploitations in the Hegemonic Public Sphere after 2014

Topics: Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Conflict, Feminisms, Gender, Gender Analysis, Media, Post-Conflict, Sexuality Regions: Africa, MENA, North Africa Countries: Tunisia

Year: 2019

Men and Nature: Hegemonic Masculinities and Environmental Change

Citation:

MacGregor, Sherilyn, and Nicole Seymour, eds. 2017. “Men and Nature: Hegemonic Masculinities and Environmental Change.” RCC Perspectives: Transformations in Environment and Society (4), 1-93.

Authors: Sherilyn MacGregor, Nicole Seymour

Annotation:

Summary:
Drawing on ecofeminist theory, environmental politics, and queer theory and ecology, this volume sheds light on the connections between masculinities and environmental change. The essays in this collection examine how hegemonic masculinities are performed and how they are reproduced under conditions of climate change, often perpetuating racial and gender inequalities and unequal power relations. The contributors reveal the making and negotiating of masculinities in very different cultural and economic settings, from central Africa to Central America, to the USA and Japan. Together, these scholars, academics, artists, and activists explore how masculine roles, identities, and practices shape human relationships with the more-than-human world. (Summary from Environment & Society Portal)
 
Table of Contents:
Foreword: Masculinities in the Sociocene
Raewyn Connell
 
Introduction
Sherilyn MacGregor and Nicole Seymour
 
1. Representing Disaster with Resignation and Nostalgia: Japanese Men’s Responses to the 2011 Earthquake
Naoki Kambe
 
2. Excuse Us, While We Fix the Sky: WEIRD Supermen and Climate Engineering
Jim Fleming
 
3. Of Storms, Floods, and Flying Sharks: The Extreme Weather Hero in Contemporary American Culture
Susanne Leikam
 
4. Masculinity, Work, and the Industrial Forest in the US Pacific Northwest
Erik Loomis
 
5. Every Day Like Today: Learning How to Be a Man in Love (An Excerpt from the Manuscript)
Alex Carr Johnson
 
6. Inventing Bushcraft: Masculinity, Technology, and Environment in Central Africa, ca. 750–1250
Kathryn M. de Luna
 
7. “The Love of the Chase Is an Inherent Delight in Man”: Hunting and Masculine Emotions in the Victorian Zoologist’s Travel Memoir
Will Abberley
 
8. Rural Masculinities in Tension: Barriers to Climate Change Adaptation in Nicaragua
Noémi Gonda
 
9. Taking Up Space: Men, Masculinity, and the Student Climate Movement
Jody Chan and Joe Curnow
 
10. Boys Will Be Boys (An Art Installation: Staged Wilderness and Male Dreams)
Nicola von Thurn

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Feminisms, Ecofeminism, Feminist Political Ecology, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Race, Sexuality Regions: Africa, Central Africa, Americas, Central America, North America, Asia, East Asia Countries: Japan, Nicaragua, United States of America

Year: 2017

Take Back the Future: Global Feminisms and the Coming Crisis of the Beijing Settlement

Citation:

Ergas, Yasmine. 2019. "Take Back the Future: Global Feminisms and the Coming Crisis of the Beijing Settlement." Journal of International Affairs 72 (2): 19-36

Author: Yasmine Ergas

Annotation:

Summary:
"In April 2019, the United States threatened to use its veto in the UN Security Council (UNSC). That was not an unusual move: the Permanent Five members of the UNSC often exercise their right to block a United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR). But what was striking in this case was the content of the resolution against which the US felt both compelled and legitimated to invoke what is, in effect, the Council’s “nuclear option.” Did the draft Resolution introduced by Germany—a US ally—threaten U.S. national security? Did it undermine a friendly nation? In fact, Germany proposed to do neither. Rather, it sought to establish a working group within the UNSC on sexual violence in conflict, and generally strengthen the Council’s monitoring of related processes. Why, then, did the US object? As importantly, why did feminist groups also voice concern about the German initiative? While further research is needed to answer these questions, this essay views the U.S. position on Germany’s draft resolution as an expression of the stance taken by the U.S. administration and other states toward what one could term the “Beijing Settlement,” the general, albeit always contested, consensus rhetorically encapsulated in the slogan that “women’s rights are human rights, and human rights are women’s rights,” which emerged from the fourth world conference on women in 1995. The U.S. administration’s stance is reflective of a broad backlash against gender-related rights, including both women’s rights generally and all persons’ rights related to sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and sexual characteristics" (Ergas 2019, 19).

Topics: Feminisms, Gender, International Organizations, Rights, Human Rights, Women's Rights, Sexual Violence, Sexuality, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS Regions: Americas, North America, Europe, Central Europe Countries: Germany, United States of America

Year: 2019

Towards Inclusive Gender in Transitional Justice: Gaps, Blind-Spots and Opportunities

Citation:

Schulz, Philipp. 2019. "Towards Inclusive Gender in Transitional Justice: Gaps, Blind-Spots and Opportunities." Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding.  

Author: Philipp Schulz

Abstract:

While gender perspectives have become a burgeoning focus of analysis in transitional justice, the dominant conceptualization of 'gender' in such processes is effectively an exclusive one. As a result, careful consideration for the roles of masculinities and for the experiences of sexual and gender minorities remains strikingly absent. To engage with these blind-spots, in this article I initiate a move towards a more inclusive understanding of gender in transitional justice, which includes masculinities and queer perspectives. I also indicate how a move from the macro- to the micro-level of TJ implies opportunities and challenges for more inclusive understandings of gender.

Keywords: gender, masculinities, transitional justice, LGBTQI, sexual violence

Topics: Gender, Masculinity/ies, Justice, Transitional Justice, LGBTQ, Sexuality

Year: 2019

Pages

© 2023 CONSORTIUM ON GENDER, SECURITY & HUMAN RIGHTSLEGAL STATEMENT All photographs used on this site, and any materials posted on it, are the property of their respective owners, and are used by permission. Photographs: The images used on the site may not be downloaded, used, or reproduced in any way without the permission of the owner of the image. Materials: Visitors to the site are welcome to peruse the materials posted for their own research or for educational purposes. These materials, whether the property of the Consortium or of another, may only be reproduced with the permission of the owner of the material. This website contains copyrighted materials. The Consortium believes that any use of copyrighted material on this site is both permissive and in accordance with the Fair Use doctrine of 17 U.S.C. § 107. If, however, you believe that your intellectual property rights have been violated, please contact the Consortium at info@genderandsecurity.org.

Subscribe to RSS - Sexuality