MESSAGES OF EXCLUSION: Gender, Movements, and Symbolic Boundaries

Gender and Society 11 (2):178-199 (1997)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

This article examines two disputes within sex and gender movements, using them to think through inclusion/exclusion processes, the place of such explosions in the construction of collective identity, and the gendered nature of social movements. Literatures on collective identity emphasize the ways boundary negotiation reinforces the solidarity necessary for collective action and note benefits of solid boundaries, yet downplay the role of internal conflict in the making of collective identities. The cases examined here both involved the explicit expulsion of some “members”: the North American Man/boy Love Association from the International Lesbian and Gay Association, and transsexuals from the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. An incongruence between practical participation and symbolic exclusion suggests that internal movement debates are best understood as public communications, depending heavily on the communicative environment. Finally, these stories raise questions about the gendered nature of collective identity construction in social movements more generally.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Women's social movements in latin America.Helen Icken Safa - 1990 - Gender and Society 4 (3):354-369.
Strategy or identity: new theoretical paradigms and contemporary social movements.Jean Cohen - 1985 - Social Research: An International Quarterly 52 (4):184-187.
Social movements.Avery Kolers - 2016 - Philosophy Compass 11 (10):580-590.
Democracy and the Right to Exclusion.Ludvig Beckman - 2014 - Res Publica 20 (4):395-411.
Hope, Solidarity, and Justice.Katie Stockdale - 2021 - Feminist Philosophy Quarterly 7 (2):1-23.

Analytics

Added to PP
2020-11-27

Downloads
10 (#1,026,208)

6 months
3 (#447,120)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?