(A2)‘Queer Theory’ Routledge Anthony Elliot.docx (original) (raw)
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Journal of Sociology
Queer Theory Now is a very well-written and refreshingly clear intersectional account of what 'queer theory' is (a daunting task!), the historical processes that brought it into being, and how it has evolved over time. It is an excellent teaching resource for lecture preparation and inclusion on student reading lists, but it is equally useful as an introduction to queer studies for newcomers or as a reference work for scholars already working in the field. The key contribution of this excellent book is alluded to in the title, where the 'now' presupposes a historical trajectory of 'queer theory', which, the authors contend, has very much endured as a relevant theoretical framework, despite elegiac claims to the contrary. Queer Theory Now thus serves as a welcome corrective to the problems of ahistoricism that can abstract 'theory' from the concrete genealogies within which it is shaped. The structure of the book is well thought out and executed, which is no small achievement for a subject as unwieldy and deliberately ephemeral as queer theory. The chapter themes are logically ordered, with the first two chapters offering a definition and then an exposition of the modern 'invention' of sexuality in sexology and the activism it spawned via Foucault. There are probably a thousand different ways one could structure a book like this, but the decision to begin with Foucault is sound, given the importance of his argument that the category of identity that produced homosexuality as a pathology was also the very same identity through which gay activists could join together first to demand equal rights and, later, to reject the institution of heterosexuality itself. After all, the basic impetus of 'queer theory' is to problematise sexual identity. From Foucault, we are then taken on a journey through feminism and the sex wars; the AIDS crisis and the emergence of Queer Nation; the work of prominent field-defining thinkers Judith Butler and Eve Sedgwick; the debates around identity politics; the rise of intersectionality; and the concepts of queer time and affect. Break-out boxes offer helpful explanations of key terms (like 'normativity', 'discourse', or the 'sex/gender distinction') and provide overviews of related theories not covered in the main text. They also offer suggestions for further reading and films to watch and sometimes feature diagrams and tables that break down different political strands of thought. A particular favourite is the figure near the 952615J OS0010.
Queer , Queerer , Queerest ? Feminisms , heterosexualities and queer theorizing
2007
Queer theorizing problematizes all forms of unitary subjectivity (e.g. 'lesbian', 'homosexual', 'heterosexual') and disrupts the binary oppositions that organize thinking about sexuality in Anglo/European/North American cultures and white settler societies (Petersen, 1998). This often eclectic body of poststructuralist intellectual work developed in the United States against the background of a series of lively confrontational political actions (e.g. grassroots action by ACT UP and Queer Nation) and academic conferences at which philosophers, literary theorists and historians reflected on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues (Butler, 1990, 1993; de Lauretis, 1991; Fuss, 1991; Sedgwick, 1990; Warner, 1991, 1993). This intellectual and political work was directed at constructing 'queer' as 'permanent rebellion' and transgression (Seidman, 1996). It challenged conventional gay and lesbian politics, problematized sexual and gender categor...
Queer Theories, Critiques and Beyond
Kvinder, Køn & Forskning
The article examines queer as critique by performing a series of parallel readings of leading queer thinkers, including Judith Butler, Eve Sedgwick, and Michael Warner. Introducing two philosophical traditions and strategies of social critique, immanent and intervening critique, along with their criteria of what is right and good, I discuss how these scholars engage in these strategies and wrestle with their in-built problems within the orbit of the research foci and ambitions of queer studies. Queer critique aims at challenging dominant knowledges, social hierarchies and norms related to sex, sexuality, and gender by exposing the limits they impose on us, including the sufferings associated with them. The article closes with considering queer political visions and their normative underpinnings.