Andrew DJ Shield | Leiden University (original) (raw)
Books by Andrew DJ Shield
![Research paper thumbnail of [PREVIEW] Immigrants on Grindr: Race, Sexuality and Belonging Online (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019)](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/62138979/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](This book 1. Investigates how gay-identified immigrants and refugees experience feelings of inclu... more This book
1. Investigates how gay-identified immigrants and refugees experience feelings of inclusion or exclusion within a sexually-charged online subculture
2. Explores the response of ethnic minorities to demonstrations of racism and xenophobia within an intolerant European climate
3. Challenges political rhetoric that labels immigrants from Muslim-majority countries as sexually conservative and homophobic or as victims in need of saving
This book examines the role of hook-up apps in the lives of gay, bi, trans, and queer immigrants and refugees, and how the online culture of these platforms promotes belonging or exclusion. Within the context of the so-called European refugee crisis, this research focuses on the experiences of immigrants from especially Muslim-majority countries to the greater Copenhagen area, a region known for both its progressive ideologies and its anti-immigrant practices. Grindr and similar platforms connect newcomers with not only dates and sex, but also friends, roommates and other logistical contacts. But these socio-sexual platforms also become spaces of racialization and othering. Weaving together analyses of real Grindr profile texts, immigrant narratives, political rhetoric, and popular media, Immigrants on Grindr provides an in-depth look at the complex interplay between online and offline cultures, and between technology and society.
Chapter abstracts for Immigrants in the Sexual Revolution: Perceptions and Participation in North... more Chapter abstracts for Immigrants in the Sexual Revolution: Perceptions and Participation in Northwest Europe (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017)
![Research paper thumbnail of [PREVIEW] Immigrants in the Sexual Revolution: Perceptions and Participation in Northwest Europe (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017)](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/54473352/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](This book: 1. Historicizes current European debates about the sexual politics of immigrants from ... more This book:
1. Historicizes current European debates about the sexual politics of immigrants from Muslim-majority regions
2. Explores the centrality of sexual politics to European debates about immigration and integration
3. Challenges dominant theories linking immigration to sexual conservatism and misogynistic behaviour
This book focuses on the latter half of the twentieth century, when much of northwest Europe grew increasingly multicultural with the arrival of foreign workers and (post-)colonial migrants, whilst simultaneously experiencing a boom in feminist and sexual liberation activism. Using multilingual newspapers, foreign worker organizations’ archives, and interviews, this book shows that immigrants in the Netherlands and Denmark held a variety of viewpoints about European gender and sexual cultures. Some immigrants felt solidarity with, and even participated in, European social movements that changed norms and laws in favor of women’s equality, gay and lesbian rights, and sexual liberation. These histories challenge today’s politicians and journalists who strategically link immigration to sexual conservatism, misogyny, and homophobia.
This book focuses on the latter half of the twentieth century, when much of northwest Europe grew... more This book focuses on the latter half of the twentieth century, when much of northwest Europe grew increasingly multicultural with the arrival of foreign workers and (post-)colonial migrants, whilst simultaneously experiencing a boom in feminist and sexual liberation activism. Using multilingual newspapers, foreign worker organizations’ archives, and interviews, this book shows that immigrants in the Netherlands and Denmark held a variety of viewpoints about European gender and sexual cultures. Some immigrants felt solidarity with, and even participated in, European social movements that changed norms and laws in favor of women’s equality, gay and lesbian rights, and sexual liberation. These histories challenge today’s politicians and journalists who strategically link immigration to sexual conservatism, misogyny, and homophobia.
Book Chapters by Andrew DJ Shield
Articles by Andrew DJ Shield
![Research paper thumbnail of The Legacies of the Stonewall Riots in Denmark and the Netherlands [OPEN ACCESS]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/62139280/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](History Workshop Journal, 2020
The Netherlands and Denmark housed Europe’s first two postwar homophile organizations, and by the... more The Netherlands and Denmark housed Europe’s first two postwar homophile organizations, and by the 1960s, activists were already debating anti-homosexual laws in national media, and (in the Netherlands) demonstrating publicly; thus Stonewall was not the origin of activism in either of these countries. Yet the events in New York City 1969 had two lasting influences in these countries: first, Stonewall catalyzed a transnational ‘consciousness’ (or solidarity) among gay and lesbian activists during a period of radicalization; and second, the Christopher Street Liberation Day 1970 inspired the visible demonstrations known today as ‘Pride’ celebrations. From 1971, Denmark’s national organization planned Christopher Street Day demonstrations every June; and that same year, a radical Gay Liberation Front split off from the association. From 1977, the Netherlands planned its own late-June demonstrations, often with transnational themes (e.g. Anita Bryant in 1977, the Iranian Revolution in 1979). In the following decades, these demonstrations of gay/lesbian visibility moved to August, and Denmark (and Belgium) dropped Christopher Street from event names. Yet scholars, activists, and the general public still evoke the memory of the first Liberation Day when referring to a ‘post-Stonewall’ era in the Netherlands and Denmark.
Sexualities, 2019
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Denmark received about 15,000 foreign workers from Turkey,... more During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Denmark received about 15,000 foreign workers from Turkey, Yugoslavia, Pakistan, the Middle East and North Africa during a unique period of women’s and sexual liberation. As foreign men visited discos—sometimes in search of sexual relationships with Danish women—a segment of Danish men accused foreigners of taking not only ‘their’ jobs but also ‘their’ women, and depicted foreign men as hypersexual or sexually violent (e.g. in union newspapers, men’s magazines). These ‘sexotic’ depictions of foreign men had immediate and negative effects on immigrants’ lived experiences in Denmark. In gay male subcultures, ‘sexotic’ depictions of men of color served mainly to entertain white fantasies, which also affected the experiences especially of gay men of color in Denmark. Overall, sexualized stereotypes about the male Other were central to broader political discussions in Denmark in the long 1970s, including debates about Danish wage suppression, immigrant ghetto formation, and the definition of sexual liberation.
This article identifies and provides examples of five recurring speech patterns on dating platfor... more This article identifies and provides examples of five recurring speech patterns on dating platforms that users might experience as racist and/or xenophobic. Empirical material comes from over 3000 Copenhagen-based profile texts on Grindr and PlanetRomeo—two platforms that cater primarily to men seeking men—as well as from interviews with twelve recent immigrants to the greater Copenhagen area who use these platforms. Theories of everyday racism (Essed, 1991), sexual racism (Callander, 2015), and entitlement racism (Essed, 2013; Essed and Muhr, 2018) informed the formulation of these five patterns, which I identify as the following: persistent questions about the origins of people with migration background; racial-sexual exclusions; racial-sexual fetishes; conflation between (potential) immigrants and economic opportunism; and insults directed at immigrants based on race, nationality, or religion. As an exploratory study, this article mainly serves to inform readers of the various ways immigrants and people of color can experience racism and xenophobia while participating in online sexual and social networking platforms; but secondly, the chapter archives the mercurial and fleeting (albeit historically embedded) discourses on these platforms for future researchers interested in comparing racisms over time and across cultures.
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 2018
In this (open-access) essay, I assess the idea that Grindr and related apps render urban gay spac... more In this (open-access) essay, I assess the idea that Grindr and related apps render urban gay spaces obsolete, and offer three counter-arguments based on my research with immigrants and tourists who use Grindr. In short: newcomers who use Grindr might actually bring new life to queer urban spaces, because...
1. Newcomers don’t use Grindr in the same way they use (physical) queer spaces;
2. Newcomers use Grindr *in* queer spaces; and
3. Newcomers often have better luck finding sex offline.
The essay is part of the "Spotlight on Disruptive Urban Technologies" by the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research.
ephemera, 2018
This research note is based on ethnographic work in the greater Copenhagen area on the socio-sexu... more This research note is based on ethnographic work in the greater Copenhagen area on the socio-sexual networking app Grindr and on interviews with twelve recent immigrants who use this platform. As an online space primarily for gay men, Grindr is a unique subculture in which to conduct research about intersections of sexuality with other socio-cultural categories such as race and migration background, but also gender and ability. I find that user experiences with exclusion and discrimination relate to Grindr’s interface, such as its drop-down menus, to the discourses circulated by Grindr users in profile texts, and to user- to-user interactions in private messages.
History Workshop Journal, 2014
The Netherlands has exemplified the politics of ‘homonationalism’ since the late 1990s, particula... more The Netherlands has exemplified the politics of ‘homonationalism’ since the late 1990s, particularly with regard to political rhetoric that ties gay and lesbian rights to policies against immigration. Drawing from queer-of-colour and queer-migrant critiques, this essay challenges the construction of the categories ‘homosexual’ and ‘immigrant’ as mutually exclusive by reconsidering the histories of homo-emancipation and immigration in the Netherlands in the late 1960s and 1970s. Linking these two ostensibly distinct histories complicates current political discussions about a supposed clash between immigrant and ‘native’ European cultures with regard to sexual tolerance.
As the Dutch homo-emancipation movement radicalized in the 1960s, many men and some women placed contact advertisements (seeking romance, correspondence, housing, employment) in popular Dutch activist periodicals. An analysis of 500 advertisements from one gay and lesbian periodical shows that about ten percent of these ads were posted internationally, and about three percent of local romance ads were placed by those who self-identified as immigrants or people of colour (e.g. post-colonial migrants, those recruited through so-called ‘guest-worker’ programmes). Dutch homo-emancipation movements both included and demonstrated solidarity with immigrants and people of colour. Scholarship on homonationalism and current political discussions of immigration could benefit from understanding the practical ways that immigration has overlapped with romance, desire, and sexuality since the 1960s.
Teaching Documents by Andrew DJ Shield
Imagine that you're a black woman who wants to work for a major U.S. company with hundreds of emp... more Imagine that you're a black woman who wants to work for a major U.S. company with hundreds of employees. But you notice something strange: the company doesn't seem to hire black women. They're just not there. Seems like an obvious case of discrimination, right?
Book Reviews by Andrew DJ Shield
Papers by Andrew DJ Shield
طه حسين والتحقيق الذي أجراه معه محمد نور يمثل العلمانية المصرية في أوائل القرن العشرين
This book 1. Investigates how gay-identified immigrants and refugees experience feelings of inclu... more This book
1. Investigates how gay-identified immigrants and refugees experience feelings of inclusion or exclusion within a sexually-charged online subculture
2. Explores the response of ethnic minorities to demonstrations of racism and xenophobia within an intolerant European climate
3. Challenges political rhetoric that labels immigrants from Muslim-majority countries as sexually conservative and homophobic or as victims in need of saving
This book examines the role of hook-up apps in the lives of gay, bi, trans, and queer immigrants and refugees, and how the online culture of these platforms promotes belonging or exclusion. Within the context of the so-called European refugee crisis, this research focuses on the experiences of immigrants from especially Muslim-majority countries to the greater Copenhagen area, a region known for both its progressive ideologies and its anti-immigrant practices. Grindr and similar platforms connect newcomers with not only dates and sex, but also friends, roommates and other logistical contacts. But these socio-sexual platforms also become spaces of racialization and othering. Weaving together analyses of real Grindr profile texts, immigrant narratives, political rhetoric, and popular media, Immigrants on Grindr provides an in-depth look at the complex interplay between online and offline cultures, and between technology and society.
Chapter abstracts for Immigrants in the Sexual Revolution: Perceptions and Participation in North... more Chapter abstracts for Immigrants in the Sexual Revolution: Perceptions and Participation in Northwest Europe (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017)
This book: 1. Historicizes current European debates about the sexual politics of immigrants from ... more This book:
1. Historicizes current European debates about the sexual politics of immigrants from Muslim-majority regions
2. Explores the centrality of sexual politics to European debates about immigration and integration
3. Challenges dominant theories linking immigration to sexual conservatism and misogynistic behaviour
This book focuses on the latter half of the twentieth century, when much of northwest Europe grew increasingly multicultural with the arrival of foreign workers and (post-)colonial migrants, whilst simultaneously experiencing a boom in feminist and sexual liberation activism. Using multilingual newspapers, foreign worker organizations’ archives, and interviews, this book shows that immigrants in the Netherlands and Denmark held a variety of viewpoints about European gender and sexual cultures. Some immigrants felt solidarity with, and even participated in, European social movements that changed norms and laws in favor of women’s equality, gay and lesbian rights, and sexual liberation. These histories challenge today’s politicians and journalists who strategically link immigration to sexual conservatism, misogyny, and homophobia.
This book focuses on the latter half of the twentieth century, when much of northwest Europe grew... more This book focuses on the latter half of the twentieth century, when much of northwest Europe grew increasingly multicultural with the arrival of foreign workers and (post-)colonial migrants, whilst simultaneously experiencing a boom in feminist and sexual liberation activism. Using multilingual newspapers, foreign worker organizations’ archives, and interviews, this book shows that immigrants in the Netherlands and Denmark held a variety of viewpoints about European gender and sexual cultures. Some immigrants felt solidarity with, and even participated in, European social movements that changed norms and laws in favor of women’s equality, gay and lesbian rights, and sexual liberation. These histories challenge today’s politicians and journalists who strategically link immigration to sexual conservatism, misogyny, and homophobia.
History Workshop Journal, 2020
The Netherlands and Denmark housed Europe’s first two postwar homophile organizations, and by the... more The Netherlands and Denmark housed Europe’s first two postwar homophile organizations, and by the 1960s, activists were already debating anti-homosexual laws in national media, and (in the Netherlands) demonstrating publicly; thus Stonewall was not the origin of activism in either of these countries. Yet the events in New York City 1969 had two lasting influences in these countries: first, Stonewall catalyzed a transnational ‘consciousness’ (or solidarity) among gay and lesbian activists during a period of radicalization; and second, the Christopher Street Liberation Day 1970 inspired the visible demonstrations known today as ‘Pride’ celebrations. From 1971, Denmark’s national organization planned Christopher Street Day demonstrations every June; and that same year, a radical Gay Liberation Front split off from the association. From 1977, the Netherlands planned its own late-June demonstrations, often with transnational themes (e.g. Anita Bryant in 1977, the Iranian Revolution in 1979). In the following decades, these demonstrations of gay/lesbian visibility moved to August, and Denmark (and Belgium) dropped Christopher Street from event names. Yet scholars, activists, and the general public still evoke the memory of the first Liberation Day when referring to a ‘post-Stonewall’ era in the Netherlands and Denmark.
Sexualities, 2019
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Denmark received about 15,000 foreign workers from Turkey,... more During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Denmark received about 15,000 foreign workers from Turkey, Yugoslavia, Pakistan, the Middle East and North Africa during a unique period of women’s and sexual liberation. As foreign men visited discos—sometimes in search of sexual relationships with Danish women—a segment of Danish men accused foreigners of taking not only ‘their’ jobs but also ‘their’ women, and depicted foreign men as hypersexual or sexually violent (e.g. in union newspapers, men’s magazines). These ‘sexotic’ depictions of foreign men had immediate and negative effects on immigrants’ lived experiences in Denmark. In gay male subcultures, ‘sexotic’ depictions of men of color served mainly to entertain white fantasies, which also affected the experiences especially of gay men of color in Denmark. Overall, sexualized stereotypes about the male Other were central to broader political discussions in Denmark in the long 1970s, including debates about Danish wage suppression, immigrant ghetto formation, and the definition of sexual liberation.
This article identifies and provides examples of five recurring speech patterns on dating platfor... more This article identifies and provides examples of five recurring speech patterns on dating platforms that users might experience as racist and/or xenophobic. Empirical material comes from over 3000 Copenhagen-based profile texts on Grindr and PlanetRomeo—two platforms that cater primarily to men seeking men—as well as from interviews with twelve recent immigrants to the greater Copenhagen area who use these platforms. Theories of everyday racism (Essed, 1991), sexual racism (Callander, 2015), and entitlement racism (Essed, 2013; Essed and Muhr, 2018) informed the formulation of these five patterns, which I identify as the following: persistent questions about the origins of people with migration background; racial-sexual exclusions; racial-sexual fetishes; conflation between (potential) immigrants and economic opportunism; and insults directed at immigrants based on race, nationality, or religion. As an exploratory study, this article mainly serves to inform readers of the various ways immigrants and people of color can experience racism and xenophobia while participating in online sexual and social networking platforms; but secondly, the chapter archives the mercurial and fleeting (albeit historically embedded) discourses on these platforms for future researchers interested in comparing racisms over time and across cultures.
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 2018
In this (open-access) essay, I assess the idea that Grindr and related apps render urban gay spac... more In this (open-access) essay, I assess the idea that Grindr and related apps render urban gay spaces obsolete, and offer three counter-arguments based on my research with immigrants and tourists who use Grindr. In short: newcomers who use Grindr might actually bring new life to queer urban spaces, because...
1. Newcomers don’t use Grindr in the same way they use (physical) queer spaces;
2. Newcomers use Grindr *in* queer spaces; and
3. Newcomers often have better luck finding sex offline.
The essay is part of the "Spotlight on Disruptive Urban Technologies" by the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research.
ephemera, 2018
This research note is based on ethnographic work in the greater Copenhagen area on the socio-sexu... more This research note is based on ethnographic work in the greater Copenhagen area on the socio-sexual networking app Grindr and on interviews with twelve recent immigrants who use this platform. As an online space primarily for gay men, Grindr is a unique subculture in which to conduct research about intersections of sexuality with other socio-cultural categories such as race and migration background, but also gender and ability. I find that user experiences with exclusion and discrimination relate to Grindr’s interface, such as its drop-down menus, to the discourses circulated by Grindr users in profile texts, and to user- to-user interactions in private messages.
History Workshop Journal, 2014
The Netherlands has exemplified the politics of ‘homonationalism’ since the late 1990s, particula... more The Netherlands has exemplified the politics of ‘homonationalism’ since the late 1990s, particularly with regard to political rhetoric that ties gay and lesbian rights to policies against immigration. Drawing from queer-of-colour and queer-migrant critiques, this essay challenges the construction of the categories ‘homosexual’ and ‘immigrant’ as mutually exclusive by reconsidering the histories of homo-emancipation and immigration in the Netherlands in the late 1960s and 1970s. Linking these two ostensibly distinct histories complicates current political discussions about a supposed clash between immigrant and ‘native’ European cultures with regard to sexual tolerance.
As the Dutch homo-emancipation movement radicalized in the 1960s, many men and some women placed contact advertisements (seeking romance, correspondence, housing, employment) in popular Dutch activist periodicals. An analysis of 500 advertisements from one gay and lesbian periodical shows that about ten percent of these ads were posted internationally, and about three percent of local romance ads were placed by those who self-identified as immigrants or people of colour (e.g. post-colonial migrants, those recruited through so-called ‘guest-worker’ programmes). Dutch homo-emancipation movements both included and demonstrated solidarity with immigrants and people of colour. Scholarship on homonationalism and current political discussions of immigration could benefit from understanding the practical ways that immigration has overlapped with romance, desire, and sexuality since the 1960s.
Imagine that you're a black woman who wants to work for a major U.S. company with hundreds of emp... more Imagine that you're a black woman who wants to work for a major U.S. company with hundreds of employees. But you notice something strange: the company doesn't seem to hire black women. They're just not there. Seems like an obvious case of discrimination, right?