PRIDE MONTH
This is what our new Encyclopedia says about LGBT Politics and Policy
Oxford UP Publishes new Encyclopedia of LGBT Politics and Policy
By: Don Haider-Markel
For years the study of LGBT politics and policy was regulated to back corners in the academy and remains outright banned in some countries. For this reason, as Pride month heats up, we are proud to announce the release of a seminal project, the Encyclopedia of LGBT Politics and Policy with Oxford University Press (OUP). This three-volume set is the most comprehensive collection of humanities and social science scholarly literature about LGBT politics and policy around the world.
All of the chapters are available online as well as in hard copy form. We fully expect that the online versions of the chapters will be periodically updated as newly published research expands the boundaries and knowledge of the field.
The Encyclopedia includes chapters reviewing and explaining the broad array of social science and humanities research on LGBT people, politics, and public policy within and across countries. The chapters are organized by key word topics under six major themes in LGBT studies. The themes are structured based on common approaches to the study of identity politics, with a focus on movement politics, public attitudes, political institutions, elections and representation, and the broader context of political theory. Chapters within each theme explore the evolution of research in the area, including all regions of the world and key topics such as civil rights, marriage and family, religion, and HIV/AIDS.
The Encyclopedia clearly reveals that a large body of research has developed focused on understanding the political mobilization of LGBT people and the impact of these movements on politics and policy. As our contributors demonstrate, research on LGBT politics provides many opportunities to examine long-standing frameworks and theoretical perspectives, including some within democratic theory and representation, social movement growth and dynamics, policy formulation and adoption, intergroup relations, public opinion formation and change, the role of federalism and subnational politics, among many others.
So where did the Encyclopedia come from?
In 2014, I began to have conversations with editors at OUP about a bibliography chapter on LGBT Politics in the U.S. In the course drafting the chapter, we began to realize a much larger topical and geographic effort was need to introduce readers to the breadth of research and knowledge in the field. We thought we could accomplish this by bringing together authors from the social sciences and humanities and from every part of the world. These scholars have expertise in areas such as public health, medicine, psychology, economics, sociology, gender studies, history, law, demography, and political science, along with interdisciplinary fields such as African American studies, among others.
To identify thematic sections, the topical areas for each chapter, and potential contributors to the Encyclopedia we created an Editorial Board of scholars with long and deep experience in the field. These Associate Editors were Carlos Ball (Rutgers University, Newark), Gary Mucciaroni (Temple University), Bruno Perreau (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Craig Rimmerman (Hobart and William Smith College), and Jami Taylor (University of Toledo). We tasked the team with identifying reviewers for each chapter and serving as reviewers for each chapter in their section. It was a remarkable team to work with.
Whether you are able to explore the Encyclopedia in hard copy, perhaps through a library, or online, I believe that you will see that the depth and breadth of knowledge in this field is impressive.
It is notable how dramatically this field has evolved considering that many of the scholars that engage in this research have often been subjected to harassment and discrimination. Scholars in this field have been mocked, shunned, or rejected by many in the academy, often with claims that their work was too tangential to the primary concerns of established disciplines. The determination of these scholars in pursuing their research agendas in the face of frequent opposition makes this body of research and this collection all the more impressive and another factor to consider during a month of pride celebrations.
