Synopses & Reviews
Why do some conflicts escalate into violence while others dissipate harmlessly? Under what circumstances will people kill, and why?
While homicide has been viewed largely in the pathological terms of "crime" and "deviance," violence, Mark Cooney contends, is a naturally-occurring form of conflict found throughout history and across cultures under certain social conditions. Cooney has analyzed the social control of homicide within and across over 30 societies and interviewed several dozens of prisoners incarcerated for murder or manslaughter, as well as members of their families. Violence such as homicide can only be understood, he argues, by transcending the traditional focus on the social characteristics of the killer and victims, and by looking at the role played by family members, friends, neighbors, onlookers, police officers, and judges. These third parties can be a source of peace or violence, depending on how they are configured in particular cases. Violence flourishes, Cooney demonstrates, when authority is either very strong or very weak and when third-party ties are strong and boundaries between groups sharply defined.
Drawing on recent theory in the lively new sociological speciality of conflict management, Mark Cooney has culled a vast array of evidence from modern and preindustrial societies to provide us with the first general sociological analysis of human violence.
Review
“Queer Mobilizations is one of precious few volumes that manages to bridge divisions between legal and cultural analysis and between scholarship and partisanship. Brilliantly interdisciplinary, moving fluidly between ‘theory and empirical-legal analysis, these essays force us to approach law as central to the current struggles over the American erotic landscape. A truly must read!”
-Steven Seidman,author of Beyond the Closet: The Transformation of Gay and Lesbian Life
Review
“This innovative collection of essays delves into the complex relationships between social movements and legal institutions. The essays creatively address the contradictory goals in the battles for social change by LGBT movements and the normalization that can often result from legal decisions. An essential and unique contribution.”
-Peter M. Nardi,author of Gay Mens Friendships: Invincible Communities
Review
“What is the complicated relationship between the LGBT movement and the law? The contributors to this fascinating volume offer a rich and thoughtful analysis of this important question by exploring an array of important policy issues. Timely and well written, this book should be of keen interest to teachers, scholars, movement activists, and citizens.”
-Craig A. Rimmerman,author of The Lesbian and Gay Movements: Assimilationist or Liberationist?
Review
“Queer Mobilizations is one of precious few volumes that manages to bridge divisions between legal and cultural analysis and between scholarship and partisanship. Brilliantly interdisciplinary, moving fluidly between ‘theory and empirical-legal analysis, these essays force us to approach law as central to the current struggles over the American erotic landscape. A truly must read!”
- Steven Seidman, author of Beyond the Closet: The Transformation of Gay and Lesbian Life
“This innovative collection of essays delves into the complex relationships between social movements and legal institutions. The essays creatively address the contradictory goals in the battles for social change by LGBT movements and the normalization that can often result from legal decisions. An essential and unique contribution.”
- Peter M. Nardi, author of Gay Mens Friendships: Invincible Communities
“What is the complicated relationship between the LGBT movement and the law? The contributors to this fascinating volume offer a rich and thoughtful analysis of this important question by exploring an array of important policy issues. Timely and well written, this book should be of keen interest to teachers, scholars, movement activists, and citizens.”
- Craig A. Rimmerman, author of The Lesbian and Gay Movements: Assimilationist or Liberationist?
Review
"The editors do an excellent job in bringing together a wide variety of work in this field. It is a particularly important addition to the scholarly discourse on activism and social change, where research on the benefits and limitations of legal strategies for social movements is sorely needed." "This volume will be useful to scholars who want to examine the relationship between legal institutions and social movements generally and to those who want to examine the how [sic] this relationship relates to the LGBT movement specifically... it presents a survey of the range of tactics social movements use to achieve change in legal institutions and the ways legal institutions provide barriers and opportunities for broader social change."
“Queer Mobilizations is one of precious few volumes that manages to bridge divisions between legal and cultural analysis and between scholarship and partisanship. Brilliantly interdisciplinary, moving fluidly between ‘theory’ and empirical-legal analysis, these essays force us to approach law as central to the current struggles over the American erotic landscape. A truly must read!”
“This innovative collection of essays delves into the complex relationships between social movements and legal institutions. The essays creatively address the contradictory goals in the battles for social change by LGBT movements and the normalization that can often result from legal decisions. An essential and unique contribution.”
“What is the complicated relationship between the LGBT movement and the law? The contributors to this fascinating volume offer a rich and thoughtful analysis of this important question by exploring an array of important policy issues. Timely and well written, this book should be of keen interest to teachers, scholars, movement activists, and citizens.”
Review
"Cooney raises fundamental issues concerning the nature of the sociological enterprise in general and of the understanding of violence and conflict within society in particular. [He] is convincing in his demonstration that any understanding of violence and conflict within society must take into account the role of third parties (e.g., relatives, friends, neighbors, strangers, or legal officials) as a force for violence or peace." -Choice,
Review
"This volume will be useful to scholars who want to examine the relationship between legal institutions and social movements generally and to those who want to examine the how [sic] this relationship relates to the LGBT movement specifically... it presents a survey of the range of tactics social movements use to achieve change in legal institutions and the ways legal institutions provide barriers and opportunities for broader social change."-Mobilization,
Synopsis
Fighting for marriage and family rights; protection from discrimination in employment, education, and housing; criminal law reform; economic justice; and health care reform: the LGBT movement is engaged in some of the most important cultural and political battles of our times. Seeking to reshape many of our basic social institutions, the LBGT movement's legal, political, and cultural campaigns reflect the complex visions, strategies, and rhetoric of the individuals and groups knocking at the law's door.
The original essays in this volume bring social movement scholarship and legal analysis together, enriching our understanding of social movements, LGBT politics and organizing, legal studies, and public policy. Moreover, they highlight the struggle to make the law relevant and responsive to the LGBT community. Ultimately, Queer Mobilizations examines how the LGBT movement's engagement with the law shapes the very meanings of sexuality, sex, gender, privacy, discrimination, and family in law and society.
Contributors: Ellen Ann Andersen, Steven A. Boutcher, Bayliss Camp, Casey Charles, Ashley Currier, Courtenay W. Daum, Shauna Fisher, David John Frank, Jonathan Goldberg-Hiller, Charles W. Gossett, Marybeth Herald, Nicholas Pedriana, Darren Rosenblum, Susan M. Sterett, and Amy L. Stone.
About the Author
Scott Barclay is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Albany, SUNY and author of
An Appealing Act.
Mary Bernstein is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut and co-editor of Queer Families, Queer Politics.
Anna-Maria Marshall is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and author of Confronting Sexual Harassment.