The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies PDF

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Introduction and Acknowledgments The academic field of gender and sexuality studies is an interdisciplinary field of scholarly inquiry that explores and interrogates the operations of gender and sexual diversity across all realms of life. Gender and sexuality studies do not stop at what most people ...

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Introduction and Acknowledgments

The academic field of gender and sexuality studies is an interdisciplinary field of scholarly inquiry that explores and interrogates the operations of gender and sexual diversity across all realms of life. Gender and sexuality studies do not stop at what most people experience as their “natural” identities, but rather proceed by questioning precisely what appears to be natural, given, and self-evident about ourselves – in the world at large, within the various collective structures and institutions that constitute societies (family, school, neighborhood, city, state, nation, and so on), in our private and personal lives, and in our sense of identity and embodiment. Described as such, the reach of gender and sexuality studies appears limitless. Since gender and sexual diversity, in intersection with other categories of difference (e.g., race, class, ethnicity, able-bodiedness), pervade almost every aspect of life; there is no academic discipline that has nothing to say about gender and sexuality, even if some realms of study (the humanities, the social sciences) have traditionally played a more dominant role in the development of this interdisciplinary field. At the same time, gender and sexuality studies, even if they play out differently over time and cross-culturally, know no regional boundaries. This means that the field of gender and sexuality studies today is truly global in its outlook. This has not always been the case: as in so many other respects, the so-called West (Western Europe, the United States, Canada, and Australia) has dominated, and to some extent still does, dominate the realms of knowledge and modes of knowing that are generated within academia, including university-based gender and sexuality studies. The goal we set for the Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies was to reflect the wide range of topics, debates, and approaches to this exciting interdisciplinary, and increasingly, global field, while yet being forced to work with the unequal power relations that have historically marked the relations between “the West” and “the rest.” While the 719 entries included in this encyclopedia may not be able to cover the entire field of gender and sexuality studies as it continues to develop in virtually all parts of the world, we hope we have captured both its complexity and its international scope. One way in which we have sought to achieve the latter is by highlighting the contributions of scholars in gender and sexuality studies in different parts of the world. With 621 lead authors and 16 advisory and associate editors from 28 different countries, the encyclopedia reaches beyond national boundaries to comprehend theoretical questions, critical debates, and key terms that are relevant to a variety of scholars in the field across the globe – albeit often in different ways and to different effects. Jointly, the five volumes make clear how differences among and between genders and diverse sexualities are socially constructed and embedded in structures of power and of discourses that reproduce inequalities and provide the basis for distinct forms of local resistance, social movements, and political activism. The volumes, taken as a whole, further testify to the fact that the field of gender and sexuality studies has a long history that predates many twentieth-century social movements, feminist

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and queer publications, and political and cultural events that are often cited as pivotal to its formation and institutionalization as an academic field. One of the challenges we faced along the way included how to define geographic regions and do justice to the diversity of scholarship and concerns within such regions. We also strived to ensure that disciplinary and interdisciplinary frames are fairly represented and attend to the theoretical range of feminist and queer approaches without privileging Western or Northern epistemologies. Even if we have not always succeeded in achieving the latter goal, given the hegemony of these approaches, we have taken care to make visible the limits of relevant entries by tempering the claims to universality. We have taken inspiration from intersectional theory to reflect the ways in which gender and sexuality are inflected by race, caste, religion, indigeneity, colonialism, nationality, cultural context, and other structures of difference and inequality. The themes of the Encyclopedia range from art, literature, culture, education, economics, labor, family, science, religion, psychology, health, political economy, law, and ethics to inequality, identity, body practices, social movements, violence, human rights, immigration, colonialism, and globalization. We also make evident the ways in which culture and politics shape constructions of gender and sexuality by paying attention to the role of the state, militarism, material culture, and discourse. The organization of the Encyclopedia reflects contemporary approaches to gender and sexuality, while simultaneously preserving the history of the field in its many permutations. We could not have accomplished this massive undertaking without the expertise and insight of associate editors renée c. hoogland (The Netherlands/USA), Maithree Wickramasinghe (Sri Lanka), and Angela Wong (Hong Kong); and advisory editors Tom Boellstorff, Jennifer Bickman Mendez, Parvis Mahdavi, and Tonia St. Germain (USA); Catherine Hundleby (Canada); Eva Magnusson (Sweden); Amrita Pande (South Africa); Maria del Pilar Grazioso (Guatemala); Mansah Prah (Ghana); Damien Riggs and Bronwyn Winter (Australia); J. Michael Ryan (Egypt/USA); and Cecilia Sanderberg (Brazil). My special thanks to renée c. hoogland for her contributions and insightful editorial comments to this introduction. The quality of any interdisciplinary publication depends on the expertise of authors who are willing to share their knowledge in such a way that readers from different backgrounds, with diverse academic training, and from different parts of the world can learn from them. Many of my colleagues at the University of Connecticut and other academic sites around the world have generously taken on the equally important role of anonymous reviewer, often providing quick turn-around time to facilitate the demanding production deadlines. I am very grateful for their willingness to review entries and for their careful attention to the international and interdisciplinary goals of the Encyclopedia. Managing editor Mike Ryan is the most amazing collaborator who has taken on an additional role as advisory editor to add his own expertise to the project. Editorial assistant Jenniann Colon joined me at the beginning of the project and assisted in organizing headwords or entries, identifying authors, and maintaining files. M.J. Taylor followed Jenniann in her position and was intricately involved in all aspects of the production process, including communicating with authors and editing entries. Graduate assistants Brenna Harvey and Judith Lakämper offered additional support during crucial times. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at University of Connecticut provided the funds to hire my wonderful editorial assistant and supported me in my other role as Director of Women’s, Gender, and

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Sexuality Studies. Justin Vaughan commissioned the work and encouraged us through the many changes in editors and professional staff that are inevitable with such a long-term endeavor. Nancy A. Naples University of Connecticut, USA September 17, 2015...