What ideas are overlooked in contemporary feminist politics? How do particular issues become part of the feminist agenda? Why do we need to think about how feminists imagine and actualize their political objectives? This book explores these questions through the notion of oversight—a concept used both to consider what has been overlooked and to examine how particular objects of feminist politics become visible in the first place. Through chapters that focus on realities lived by trans women, Viviane Namaste explores diverse case studies and facets of political life: women’s labour, the archiving of everyday life, the history of HIV, urban development and displacement, bisexualities, and the culture of feminist activists themselves.
Oversight suggests that feminists need to engage in careful, deep reflection on how feminist knowledge comes into being. This book will be of interest to scholars in women’s and gender studies, community development, sociology, social work, geography, history, and sexuality studies. Its accessible tone, pedagogical questions, and suggested readings make it well suited to classroom use. Its exploration of activist culture will be of particular interest to advocates of social justice both inside and outside of the university.
All royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to the Emergency Relief Fund of PASAN—Prisoners’ HIV/AIDS Support Action Network. This fund helps support individuals who are newly released from jail and who need financial resources for housing, food, medications, and the replacement of identity documents.
INTRODUCTION: Oversight: How and Why Feminist Thinking Matters
Further Reading
Notes
References
CHAPTER ONE: Montréal by Night: Critical Thoughts on Radical Health Research
Introduction
Montréal as a City of Leisure, Sex, and Sexuality
Histories of Public Health and Infectious Disease in Montréal
Conclusion
Questions for Discussion and Reflection
Further Reading
Notes
References
CHAPTER TWO: Labour, the State, and Global Capitalism: Challenges for Archiving Trans Lives
Cabarets
Clinical Health
Conclusion
Questions for Discussion and Reflection
Further Reading
Notes
References
CHAPTER THREE: Reflections on a Changing City: Heritage, the Transformation of Montréal’s Downtown Core, and the Economic Dimensions of Oversight, Translated by Natalie Duchesne
The Quartier des spectacles and the Revitalisation of Saint-Laurent Boulevard
Methodological Issues in Our Reflections on Québec Heritage
Data and Evidence Presented by the Promoters
The General Orientations of the Quartier des spectacles
Summary of the Situation
Recommendations
Epilogue
Questions for Discussion and Reflection
Further Reading
References
CHAPTER FOUR: The Impact of HIV in Parisian Trans Communities, 1980–2000: The Relevance of History for Critical Epistemologies on HIV/AIDS
Histories of HIV/AIDS
Overview of the Research Study
Main Study Findings
Conclusion: The Contributions of History in the Analysis of HIV/AIDS
Questions for Discussion and Reflection
Further Reading
Notes
References
CHAPTER FIVE: Critiquing the AIDS Bureaucracy: An Open Letter to the Canadian AIDS Society (CAS), Co-authored with Nora Butler Burke and Zack Marshall
History of This Issue at CAS
Meetings and Communications with CAS
Principles in Practice?
Questions We Still Ask Ourselves
Why This Letter?
What Can You Do?
Epilogue
Questions for Discussion and Reflection
Further Reading
References
CHAPTER SIX: But What About the B? Elision of Bisexualities in Scholarship and Activisms on Sexuality
Questions for Discussion and Reflection
Further Reading
References
CHAPTER SEVEN: Reflections on Pronouns, Activists, and Funerals
Introduction
The Limits of Confession: Constituting the Settler Subject
Preferred Pronouns: Activists Speak and Centre Themselves
Beyond Binary Gender: Marginalizing Transsexuals?
Enter “Trans People,” Exit Trans Women
Privilege: But I Want it!
Reflections on “Safe Space”
On Funerals
Conclusion
Questions for Discussion and Reflection
Further Reading
Notes
References
CONCLUSION References
Biography
Viviane Namaste is a Professor and Research Chair in HIV/AIDS and Sexual Health at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at Concordia University in Montreal.
“Namaste has written a timely and engaging book, perfect for courses on gender, sexuality, and feminist methods, theorizing, and activism. The combination of critical feminism, the explication/application of the concept of ‘oversight,’ and the discussion of work/research with trans people and on trans issues clearly set this book apart from other works that might, at most, grapple with one of these areas. This book is unique in the sheer breadth of topics covered and perspectives considered; it stands out for the strength of the research, lucidity of the arguments, and accessibility of the writing.”— Fiona Nelson, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary
“Viviane Namaste’s latest work matters not just for trans people, activists, and scholars but also for anyone interested in public sector issues around gender, sexuality, and health, particularly in relation to HIV, history, memory, and activism, and especially in Canadian and French-language contexts. This collection is an important contribution to a growing body of literature that critically engages with a range of tough questions and issues about which we should all be thinking carefully.”— Nicholas Matte, Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, University of Toronto
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