The Politics of Lesbian Specificity

ABSTRACT

The notion of lesbian specificity must be understood in the context of heteronormative society. Heterosexual norms affect negotiations of power and sexual desire in lesbian relationships. But this investigation into woman-to-woman sexual practices also views the possibility of lesbian specificity as potentially subversive, in the sense that it poses fundamental questions about conventional discourses on sexuality and eroticism.     

The Ethical Challenges of Socially Responsible Science

Social responsibility is an essential part of the responsible conduct of research that presents difficult ethical questions for scientists. Recognizing one’s social responsibilities as a scientist is an important first step toward exercising social responsibility, but it is only the beginning, since scientists may confront difficult value questions when deciding how to act responsibly. Ethical dilemmas related to socially responsible science fall into at least three basic categories: 1) dilemmas related to problem selection, 2) dilemmas related to publication and data sharing, and 3) dilemmas related to engaging society. In responding to these dilemmas, scientists must decide how to balance their social responsibilities against other professional commitments and how to avoid compromising their objectivity. In this article, we will examine the philosophical and ethical basis of social responsibility in science, discuss some of the ethical dilemmas related to exercising social responsibility, and make five recommendations to help scientists deal with these issues.     

Religion and the environmental opinion in 22 countries: a comparative study

The objective is to test if religiosity affects environmental opinion in Europe. Using data from European Social Survey (ESS) 2002/2003, the study answers three questions. At the societal level: Is public opinion about the environment different in political systems with different Christian traditions? Is environmental concern less or higher in the public opinion depending on the degree of secularization in the political systems? At the individual level: Is the environmental opinion of the individual affected by the personal confession of faith, religious involvement, and the dominant religious context? At the societal level, the findings show stronger concern for the environment in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox countries than in Protestant countries. The tendency also shows a weakened concern for the environment in countries with a rather secular population. At the individual level, there are significant positive effects on environmental care from Catholic culture, negative effect from Protestant culture, and no effect from religious involvement.     

‘Us’ and ‘them’: the limits and possibilities of a ‘politics of neurodiversity’ in neoliberal times

The neurodiversity movement claims that there are neurological differences in the human population, and that autism is a natural variation among humans – not a disease or a disorder, just ‘a difference’. A ‘politics of neurodiversity’ is based on the claim that the ‘neurodiverse’ population constitutes a political grouping comparable with those of class, gender, sexuality or race. This paper considers the limits and possibilities of neurodiverse political activism, and concludes by calling for a politics of identity that does not depend on a politics of ‘us’ and ‘them’.     

Spaces of Pride: A Visual Ethnography of Gay Pride Parades in Italy and the United Kingdom

Gay pride parades represent an active site of production of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), intersexual and queer identities, featuring a spatial and social articulation of political and human rights claims. While the multiplication of these events in different countries suggests the existence of a coherent and cohesive community which shares the same collective identity beyond national borders, different patterns in the organisation, part-taking and social and political connotations given to these events can be observed in different contexts. By means of a comparative visual ethnography of Italian and British Gay Pride Parades, this article investigates how the creation, mobilisation and challenge of quasi-normative LGBT identities occur within the spatial context of gay pride marches. It is argued, in particular, that while gay pride parades are sites in which the socio-political status quo can be successfully challenged, participants are also faced with the possibility of falling prey to dynamics of identity commodification and homonationalism which may ultimately deprive their claims of their subversive potential.     

How the Right Usurped the Queer Agenda: Frame Co‐optation in Political Discourse

This article draws on a case study of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) and queer politics in Vermont to explain the conditions under which radical discourse gains and loses a public voice. In contrast to claims that the marginalization of queer discourse is due to silencing by LGBT rights activists or to litigation strategies, we argue that variation in queer discourse over time is the result of the co‐optation of queer discourse and goals by opponents. Extending the social movement literature on frame variation, we argue that opponents co‐opt discourse when they adopt aspects of the content of a movement's discourse, while subverting its intent. We show that conservative LGBT rights opponents co‐opted queer discourse. As a result, queer positions lost their viability as the discursive field in which those arguments were made was fundamentally altered. Because queer positions became less tenable, we see the withdrawal of queer discourse from the mainstream and alternative LGBT media. Our work both supports and builds on research on frame variation by demonstrating how discourse can change over time in response to the interplay between changing aspects of the political and cultural landscape and the discourse of opponents.     

技治主义与当代中国关系刍议

20世纪80、90年代以来，一些国外学者认为，当代中国正在从社会主义走上技治主义的道路。因为定义不清，数据和论证存在问题，以及对中国政治精英选拔理解偏差，这种观点是错误的。技治主义对当代中国政治产生了一定程度的影响，但远未到影响社会根本制度的程度。对技治主义的评价必须结合中国的具体国情，不能一味追随西方的观点。作为一种工具，对中国政治进行适度的技治主义改良在现阶段具有一定的积极意义。     

论和平发展战略对台湾政党政治的影响

随着两岸关系和平发展的持续推进,这项战略已经产生了强大的溢出效应。影响所及,两岸关系结构、台湾民众对两岸关系的认知结构以及台湾岛内话语结构等都发生了根本性变化,这种局面对岛内政党政治的基本生态和未来发展趋势产生了较大影响,两个主要政党都针对环境的变化进行了一定的调整,以求适应台海局势的结构性变化,谋求未来更多的发展空间。     

Supporting the democratic political organisation of Muslim immigrants: the perspective of Muslims in the Netherlands and Germany

Using data from three survey studies, this paper examines the support for the democratic political organisation of Muslims among Muslim immigrants in the Netherlands (Studies 1, 2, and 3) and Germany (Study 3). Using a social psychological perspective, support is examined in relation to religious group identification, Muslim linked fate, perceived discrimination, fundamentalist religious belief, and host national identification. The findings in all three studies show support for the political organisation of Muslims. Furthermore, higher religious group identification and higher linked fate were associated with stronger support. More discrimination and more fundamentalist beliefs were also associated with stronger support, and part of these associations was mediated by linked fate. National identification was not associated with support for the political organisation of Muslims.     

Chinatown 2.0: the difficult flowering of an ethnically themed shopping area

Right in Amsterdam’s picturesque Canal Zone, on and around Zeedijk, Chinese entrepreneurs have carved out a presence in what seems like the local Chinatown. The businessmen have been targeting Asian and non-Asian customers by offering products that – to an extent – can be associated with Asia, China in particular. Since the early 1990s, individual entrepreneurs and their business organisations have campaigned for official acknowledgement of Zeedijk as an ethnic-only district and for governmental support of the enhancement of Chineseness. Following Hackworth and Rekers. [(2005). “Ethnic Packaging and Gentrification. The Case of Four Neighborhoods in Toronto.” Urban Affairs Review 41 (2): 211–236], we argue that this case challenges traditional understandings of ethnic commercial landscapes. In sharp contrast to the current orthodoxy, which would conceive the proliferation of such an ‘ethnic enclave’ as part of a larger process of assimilation, we have approached Amsterdam’s Chinatown first and foremost as a themed economic space: Chinese and other entrepreneurs compete for a share of the market and in doing also for the right to claim the identity of the area. What is the historical development of the Zeedijk area, how did Chinese entrepreneurs and their associations try to boost Chinatown and negotiate public Chineseness, and how did governmental and non-governmental institutional actors respond to those attempts?