Reading Notes
November 29, 2007
1. Todd Gitlin. “The Media in the Unmaking of the New Left”
Begins with a summary of the ways in which the media made the anti-war movement
look bad. The point is that the media published facts, but only some of the facts and gave
a distorted picture. Media coverage itself led to a change in the movement, as new
recruits were inspired by the media’s image of the movement. P. 303 makes the
interesting argument that the next generation of most radical activists were from
conservative backgrounds, where you got so much negative reaction to small deviance
that people felt they may as well be communist revolutionaries. [Note that this argument
itself is worth a debate.]
The core of the selection focuses on the role of the media in relation to self-appointed
“leaders” who played to the media. Especially Jerry Rubin, who had no political base but
received massive news coverage for his media-focused activities. P. 305-6 notes that a
documentary on the political evolution of Rennie Davis was never aired, because it
portrayed the development of his ideas in a respectful and meaningful way. Bob Moses
and Mario Savio are contrasted as leaders who refused to be media icons and pulled
themselves out of the movement.
Sketches the problem of how to hold leadership accountable while not destroying leaders
in the face of “media appointment.” Since the 1960s, movements have played to the
media for attention, and the article raises questions about the implication of what is seen
in the media for understandings of political action. Ends by contrasting the problems of
radical movements with reform movements that can have their own experts and get more
respectful and considered treatment in the news.
2. Mary Bernstein. “Strategic Uses of Identity by the Gay and Lesbian Movement”
Begins with a critique of contrasting goal oriented versus identity oriented movements.
Then distinguishes different dimensions of identity
Identity for empowerment: use identity to mobilize a constituency
Identity as goal: challenge stigma, recognize new identities, deconstruct
categories
Identity as strategy: deploy identities so that values, categories and practices of
individuals are subjects of debate
- for critique: confronts dominant culture
- for education: challenges dominant perceptions, emphasize
uncontroversial themes
Then relates identity for critique vs identity for education to political context.. Chart on
p. 240 has three variables: (1) Whether the context combines weak organizational
infrastructure with zero political access VERSUS whether there is either strong
organization or political access; (2) whether movement organizations are “inclusive”
(seeking to mobilize a broader public) or “exclusive” (not trying to mobilize others); (3)
whether there is only routine opposition or organized opposition. If you work through
the graph, the predictions are (a) If movement organizations are exclusive, they use
education if they have only routine opposition and there are “mixed models” (i.e.
different and competing identity strategies) if there is organized opposition. (b) If
movement organizations are inclusive, it does not matter whether opposition is organized
or routine, but rather a combination of weak organization and no political access leads to
identity for critique, while either strong organizations or political access leads to identity
for education. The article gives specific examples of the campaigns in different states,
especially contrasting New York and Oregon: critique was used in New York, while gay
businessmen used education strategies in Oregon. This is explained in more detail.
Then the model is applied to Black& women’s movements.
3. Joshua Gamson. “The Dilemmas of Identity Politics”. This article centers on the
debates around queer and other identities. Basically whether to use fixed categories (i.e.
gay, lesbian) or whether to emphasize the subversion of categories (queer). Also debates
about whether “queer” is itself too hurtful a word to use. [[This ties in with Bernstein’s
difference between education and critique, although the fixed versus blurred distinction is
not quite the same.]] Debates about bisexual & transgendered identities, especially with
respect to lesbians: what does it mean to be lesbian? What is a sexual identity?
Ends with sketching the problem that there is strategic value on both sides. The
categories are fluid, critique does work. But without boundaries, there are no groups and
no solidarity.