Cathy J. Cohen | |
---|---|
Born | 1962 (age 61–62) |
Known for | Audre Lorde Project, Black Youth Project, BYP100 |
Title | David and Mary Winton Green Professor of Political Science |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | University of Michigan, Miami University |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Political Science |
Doctoral students | Vanessa C. Tyson |
Main interests | African American politics,women and politics,lesbian and gay politics,and social movements |
Notable works | "Punks,Bulldaggers,and Welfare Queens:The Radical Potential of Queer Politics" (1997),The Boundaries of Blackness:AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics (1999),Democracy Remixed:Black Youth and the Future of American Politics (2010) |
Cathy J. Cohen (born 1962) is an American political scientist,author,feminist,and social activist,whose work has focused on the African-American experience in politics from a perspective which is underlined by intersectionality. She is currently the David and Mary Winton Green Professor in Political Science and the College at the University of Chicago,and is the former Director of the Center for the Study of Race (2002–05).
Cohen was raised in a Black working-class family in Toledo,Ohio. [1] She received her BA from Miami University,Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1993 and began her academic career at Yale University where she received tenure. Cohen joined the faculty of the University of Chicago in 2002. [2]
Cohen frequently writes and speaks about gender,sexuality,class,ethnicity,and their interrelatedness and connection to power. This approach puts her in a class of leftist intellectuals who work to have social and public policy influence on the lives of marginalized groups in a positive way. [3] [4] Cohen,a black lesbian and parent,is the principal researcher on the Black Youth Project,a nationwide survey which focuses on factors that influence black youth decision-making,norms,etc.,and has a central focus on understanding how black youth feel political challenges significantly impact them. [5] Cohen is the author of Democracy Remixed:Black Youth and The Future of American Politics and Boundaries of Blackness:AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics and Punks,Bulldaggers,and Welfare Queens:The Radical Potential of Queer Politics? . [6] Cohen is also the co-editor of Women Transforming Politics:An Alternative Reader with Kathleen Jones and Joan Tronto and the co-author of a study on New Media and Youth Political Action,which is part of the Youth and Participatory Politics survey project. [7] She was also on the board of Kitchen Table:Women of Color Press as well as the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS) at CUNY. [8]
Her book Boundaries of Blackness:AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics explores how issues such as age,gender,sexuality and the growing AIDs epidemic shape the acceptance boundaries within the African-American community. [9]
In Democracy Remixed:Black Youth and The Future of American Politics, Cohen uses findings from the Black Youth Project to provide a detailed description of what black youth want,how they understand intersecting challenges of opportunity and discrimination,and how we can begin to help transform the lived experiences and future outcomes of African American youth. [10]
Cohen is one of the founding board members of the Audre Lorde Project,which focuses on providing adequate representation,community wellness,and efficient economic and social justice for the LGBT+ communities they serve. [11] Cohen is active in a number of organizations working on social justice issues;she has moderated the Applied Research Center's 2010 conference "Popularizing Racial Justice",and served as secretary of the American Political Science Association. [12] Cohen has also been member of the Black Radical Congress,African American Women in Defense of Ourselves, [13] and the United Coalition Against Racism. She currently serves as a board member of the Arcus Foundation and of the University of Chicago’s four charter schools.
In “Punks,Bulldaggers,and Welfare Queens:The Radical Potential of Queer Politics”,Cohen brings attention to and problematizes queer theory’s single-oppression framework. She argues that this single-oppression framework reinforces the binary between queer/non-queer,creating a category to identify with instead of strategically challenging heteronormativity. By heteronormativity,Cohen is referring to the practices and institutions that legitimize and privilege heterosexuality and heterosexual relationships presumed to be “natural”in society. Heteronormativity is the normalizing power that is at the focus of queer politics. [14]
Because “queer”is taken up in public discourse as a “deviant sexuality”and is indicative of non-normativity,Cohen argues that queer theory fails to advocate and recognize those who are not queer-identified as sexually marginalized subjects,which in turn,limits the radical potential of queer politics. She suggests that we broaden our understanding of queerness,because as it currently stands,the term “queer”does not encompass all marginalized identities. She urges that we must recognize the intersections of oppression and understand how multiple identities work to limit the privilege granted to those who conform to heteronormativity. This article is a call for action for queer activism to take an intersectional approach towards transformation.
In “The Radical Potential of Queer? Twenty Years Later”,Cohen reflected on her article “Punks,Bulldaggers,and Welfare Queens”saying that it was shaped primarily by three factors:the HIV/AIDS crisis,neoliberal policies and ideologies implemented by Reagan and Clinton that harmed the poor,and hope,which stands in contrast to the first two (she is referring to the emergence of Black feminist and Black gay and lesbians communities between the 70s-90s). The article is primarily focused on hope,as Cohen is afraid of the erasure that happens with re-writing history,especially around Black and gay communities framed as only as response to HIV/AIDS. In fact,she argues that we need to remember that these communities were a radical attack on politics of respectability,and state violence. [15]
Cohen articulates that “queer”and “queerness”have become politicized identities in and of themselves,which she is suggesting may rob it of the very potentials that queering is supposed to engender. In other words,queerness as a practice is about the ability to create an opposition to dominant norms—but increasing to be queer is a “normal”identity. Thus,it may be weakening as a position of resistance,because it has become part of a range of identities,which is a turn away from being a form of resistance to categorization and heteronormativity. Cohen concludes with a hopeful message that perhaps her vision of queer resistance isn’t what she thought it would be twenty years ago,but recognizes the potential for contemporary Black feminism and queer activists to make radical change.
She has received a number of awards,including the Robert Wood Johnson Investigator’s Award, [16] and the Robert Wood Johnson Scholars in Health Policy Research Fellowship. [17]
Cohen is the recipient of two research grants from the Ford Foundation for her work as principal investigator of the Black Youth Project and the Mobilization,Change and Political and Civic Engagement Project. Cohen serves on a number of national and local advisory boards and is the co-editor with Frederick Harris of a book series at Oxford University Press entitled "Transgressing Boundaries:Studies in Black Politics and Black Communities". [18] [19]
In 2004,Cohen was awarded the Race,Politics,and Adolescent Health:Understanding the Health Attitudes and Behaviors of African American Youth Award. In 2004,Cohen was also interviewed for the Global Feminisms Project Comparative Case Studies Of Women's Activism and Scholarships,which is an archive of oral histories given by transnational women scholars and activists.
In 2013,Cohen gave the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Lecture,entitled "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the Age of Obama:Building a New Movement for the 21st Century",at Gustavus Adolphus College. [20]
Heteronormativity is the concept that heterosexuality is the preferred or normal sexual orientation. It assumes the gender binary and that sexual and marital relations are most fitting between people of opposite sex.
Audre Lorde was an American writer,professor,philosopher,intersectional feminist,poet and civil rights activist. She was a self-described "black,lesbian,feminist,socialist,mother,warrior,poet" who dedicated her life and talents to confronting all forms of injustice,as she believed there could be "no hierarchy of oppressions".
Straight-acting is a term for LGBT individuals who do not exhibit the appearance or mannerisms of what is seen as stereotypically gay. Although the label is used by and reserved almost exclusively for gay and bisexual men,it may also be used to describe a lesbian or bisexual woman exhibiting a feminine appearance and mannerisms. Since the term invokes negative stereotypes of gay people,its application is often controversial and may cause offense.
Signs:Journal of Women in Culture and Society is a peer-reviewed feminist academic journal. It was established in 1975 by Jean W. Sacks,Head of the Journals Division,with Catharine R. Stimpson as its first editor in Chief,and is published quarterly by the University of Chicago Press. Signs publishes essays examining the lives of women,men,and non-binary people around the globe from both historical and contemporary perspectives,as well as theoretical and critical articles addressing processes of gendering,sexualization,and racialization.
Black feminism,also known as Afro-feminism chiefly outside the United States,is a branch of feminism that focuses on the African-American woman's experiences and recognizes the intersectionality of racism and sexism. Black feminism also acknowledges the additional marginalization faced by black women due to their social identity.
Callen-Lorde Community Health Center is a primary care center located at 356 West 18th Street in New York City,New York. Callen-Lorde also provides comprehensive mental health services at The Thea Spyer Center,located at 230 West 17th Street. Callen-Lorde is dedicated to providing medical health care to the city's LGBTQ population without regard of ability to pay. It is named in honor of Michael Callen and Audre Lorde.
The Audre Lorde Project is a Brooklyn,New York–based organization for LGBT people of color. The organization concentrates on community organizing and radical nonviolent activism around progressive issues within New York City,especially relating to LGBT communities,AIDS and HIV activism,pro-immigrant activism,prison reform and organizing among youth of color. It is named for the lesbian-feminist poet and activist Audre Lorde and was founded in 1994.
Pat Parker was an American poet and activist. Both her poetry and her activism drew from her experiences as an African-American lesbian feminist. Her poetry spoke about her tough childhood growing up in poverty,dealing with sexual assault,and the murder of a sister. At eighteen,Parker was in an abusive relationship and had a miscarriage after being pushed down a flight of stairs. After two divorces she came out as lesbian "embracing her sexuality" and said she was liberated and "knew no limits when it came to expressing the innermost parts of herself".
Compulsory heterosexuality, often shortened to comphet,is the theory that heterosexuality is assumed and enforced upon people by a patriarchal and heteronormative society. The term was popularized by Adrienne Rich in her 1980 essay titled "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence". According to Rich,social science and literature perpetuate the societal belief that women in every culture are believed to have an innate preference for romantic and sexual relationships with men. She argues that women's sexuality towards men is not always natural but is societally ingrained and scripted into women. Comphet creates the belief that society is overwhelmingly heterosexual and delegitimizes queer identities. As a result,it perpetuates homophobia and legal inequity for the LGBTQ+ community.
Roderick Ferguson is Professor of Women's,Gender,and Sexuality Studies and American Studies at Yale University. He was previously professor of African American and Gender and Women's Studies in the African American Studies Department at the University of Illinois,Chicago. His scholarship includes work on African-American literature,queer theory and queer studies,classical and contemporary social theory,African-American intellectual history,sociology of race and ethnic relations,and black cultural theory. Among his contributions to queer theory,Ferguson is credited with coining the term Queer of Color Critique,which he defines as "...interrogat[ion] of social formations as the intersections of race,gender,sexuality,and class,with particular interest in how those formations correspond with and diverge from nationalist ideals and practices. Queer of color analysis is a heterogeneous enterprise made up of women of color feminism,materialist analysis,poststructuralist theory,and queer critique." Ferguson is also known for his critique of the modern university and the corporatization of higher education.
Queering is the verb form of the word queer. It is a technique that came out of queer theory in the late 1980s through the 1990s and is used as a way to challenge heteronormativity by analyzing places in a text that use heterosexuality or identity binaries. Queering is a method that can be applied to literature as well as film to look for places where things such as gender,sexuality,masculinity,and femininity are challenged and questioned. Originally,the method of queering dealt more strictly with gender and sexuality,but quickly expanded to become more of an umbrella term for addressing identity as well as a range of systems of oppression and identity politics. Even the term queer itself can be queered,because much of queer theory involves working to fight against normalization even in the field itself. In the context of queer theory,"queering is something we do,rather than something we are ."
Michelle Parkerson is an American filmmaker and academic. She is an assistant professor in Film and Media Arts at Temple University and has been an independent film/video maker since the 1980s,focusing particularly on feminist,LGBT,and political activism and issues.
DarkMatter was an art and activist collaboration between Janani Balasubramanian and Alok Vaid-Menon,known for their spoken word performances and queer/trans South Asian themes.
Trans Day of Action (TDOA) began in 2005 and is an annual rally and march held in late June in New York City. It is organized by the Audre Lorde Project's Trans Justice group. It aims "to call attention to the continued violence,discrimination and institutionalization of our people [Trans and Gender Non-Conforming people],while simultaneously lifting up and celebrating our legacy of resilience,organizing,and community building." While addressing issues that disproportionately impact trans and gender non-conforming people,TDOA is also meant to honor and contribute to the broader "struggle for justice,liberation,and recognition for all oppressed people worldwide."
Sister Outsider:Essays and Speeches is a collection of essential essays and speeches written by Audre Lorde,a writer who focuses on the particulars of her identity:Black woman,lesbian,poet,activist,cancer survivor,mother,and feminist. This collection,now considered a classic volume of Lorde's most influential works of non-fiction prose,has had a groundbreaking impact in the development of contemporary feminist theories. In fifteen essays and speeches dating from 1976 to 1984,Lorde explores the complexities of intersectional identity,while explicitly drawing from her personal experiences of oppression to include sexism,heterosexism,racism,homophobia,classism,and ageism. The book examines a broad range of topics,including love,self-love,war,imperialism,police brutality,coalition building,violence against women,Black feminism,and movements towards equality that recognize and embrace differences as a vehicle for change. With meditative conscious reasoning,Lorde explores her misgivings for the widespread marginalization deeply-rooted in the United States' white patriarchal system,all the while,offering messages of hope. The essays in this landmark collection are extensively taught and have become a widespread area of academic analysis. Lorde's philosophical reasoning that recognizes oppressions as complex and interlocking designates her work as a significant contribution to critical social theory.
Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100) is an African American youth organization in the United States. Its activities include community organizing,voter mobilization,and other social justice campaigns focused on black,feminist,and queer issues. The national director is D'Atra "Dee Dee" Jackson.
Queer of color critique is an intersectional framework,grounded in Black feminism,that challenges the single-issue approach to queer theory by analyzing how power dynamics associated race,class,gender expression,sexuality,ability,culture and nationality influence the lived experiences of individuals and groups that hold one or more of these identities. Incorporating the scholarship and writings of Audre Lorde,Gloria Anzaldúa,KimberléCrenshaw,Barbara Smith,Cathy Cohen,Brittney Cooper and Charlene A. Carruthers,the queer of color critique asks:what is queer about queer theory if we are analyzing sexuality as if it is removed from other identities? The queer of color critique expands queer politics and challenges queer activists to move out of a "single oppression framework" and incorporate the work and perspectives of differently marginalized identities into their politics,practices and organizations. The Combahee River Collective Statement clearly articulates the intersecting forces of power:"The most general statement of our politics at the present time would be that we are actively committed to struggling against racial,sexual,heterosexual,and class oppression,and see as our particular task the development of integrated analysis and practice based upon the fact that major systems of oppression are interlocking. The synthesis of these oppressions creates the conditions of our lives." Queer of color critique demands that an intersectional lens be applied queer politics and illustrates the limitations and contradictions of queer theory without it. Exercised by activists,organizers,intellectuals,care workers and community members alike,the queer of color critique imagines and builds a world in which all people can thrive as their most authentic selves- without sacrificing any part of their identity.
Homonormativity is the privileging of heteronormative ideals and constructs onto LGBT culture and identity. It is predicated on the assumption that the norms and values of heterosexuality should be replicated and performed among homosexual people. Homonormativity selectively privileges cisgendered homosexuality as worthy of social acceptance.
Gloria Ida Joseph was a Crucian-American academic,writer,educator,and activist. She was a self-identified radical Black feminist lesbian writer who synthesized art and activism in her work. Joseph's scholarship centered race,gender,sexuality,and class. She is known for her pioneering work on Black feminism and her activism on issues concerning Black women across the diaspora,including in the South Africa,Germany,and Caribbean.
"Queers Read This" is an essay about queer identity. The polemic was originally circulated by members of Queer Nation as a pamphlet at the June 1990 New York Gay Pride Parade. It characterizes queerness as a community based on social situation and action,in contrast to gay and lesbian identity which are considered to be based on "natural" or inherent characteristics,and suggests that to be queer is to constantly fight against oppression.