Description
Book SynopsisA groundbreaking comparative analysis of the historical development and contemporary dynamics of LGBT activism in Mexico and Brazil.
Trade Review“The detailed analysis of the different efforts in each country and the careful cross-national comparison makes this work an essential source for any scholar working on Brazil, Mexico, democratization in Latin America, and the emergence of gender and sexual movements demanding equal rights and an end to discrimination.” - James N. Green,
The Americas“Rafael de la Dehesa has written an empirically rich and analytically nuanced book that explores the rise and development of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activist engagements with the state in Brazil and Mexico. . . . de la Dehesa makes a substantial contribution to our knowledge of LGBT movements and of Brazilian and Mexican politics. . . . [H]is comparative analysis deepens our understanding of how globalization, in particular the transnational project of liberal modernity, powerfully affects local activism, but in contingent and nonhomogenizing ways.” - Deborah Gould,
Perspectives on Politics“[A]nother wonderful piece of scholarship based on a decade of field research, including nearly 270 interviews with a wide range of respondents. . . . [A] beautifully written, eloquently argued, and entirely original work. De la Dehesa has written the first English-language monograph focused on the interaction of Latin American LGBT communities with party systems and the state. . . . This book is sure to find a wide audience, as it explores key issues in Latin American and sexuality studies, as well as in sociology and politics.” - Elisabeth Jay Friedman,
Signs“Rafael de la Dehesa does a wonderful job comparing the activism of the LGBT movements in both countries, something that is important mainly because of the lack of this kind of rigorous studies in Latin America.
Queering the Public Sphere in Mexico and Brazil, a model of comparative analysis, reveals a significant history of organization and political presence of sexual minorities in Latin America that has remained mostly ignored.”
- R. Hernandez Rodriguez,
The Latin Americanist“Rafael de la Dehesa’s work stands out among recent studies of social movement activism around sexual identities and scholarly publications on democratisation in Latin America. It breathes fresh air into the debate on the nature and meaning of the democratisation processes in the region and provides key insights on the role that civil society groups have played in domestic and transnational contexts. . . . Without any doubt this will soon become a seminal piece for anyone interested in interdisciplinary and comparative analyses, North and South.” - Antonio Torres-Ruiz,
Journal of Latin American Studies“
Queering the Public Sphere in Mexico and Brazil is an exceptional study with the potential to become a major reference in this field of research. It will help to define the analysis of LGBT political mobilization in the global South for some time to come.”—
Richard Parker, author of
Beneath the Equator: Cultures of Desire, Male Homosexuality, and Emerging Gay Communities in Brazil“Rafael de la Dehesa uses the tools and methods of comparative politics to move queer activism from the margins to the center of the debate. He delves deeply into the historical development and current dynamics of queer political interactions with the state in two countries whose institutional and cultural contexts he knows thoroughly. And he makes major contributions to current thinking about neoliberalism, governmentality, the public sphere, and the limits and potential of ‘sexual citizenship.’”—
Rosalind Petchesky, co-author of
Sexuality, Health, and Human Rights“Very little has been written on the emergence of gay and lesbian rights as an issue in the public sphere in Latin America, or on the social forces that have led to related legislative gains.
Queering the Public Sphere in Mexico and Brazil fills a gap and should be welcomed by specialists in Latin American studies, gay and lesbian studies, social movements, and civil rights.”—
Barry D. Adam, co-editor of
The Global Emergence of Gay and Lesbian Politics: National Imprints of a Worldwide Movement“
Queering the Public Sphere in Mexico and Brazil is an excellent read. To my knowledge, it provides the first systematic comparison of national LGBT movements in Latin America. . . . [I]t has the potential to reorient existing academic understandings of the manner in which LGBT social movements are becoming globalized. In short, this is a well-researched and extremely thoughtful book that will make an important contribution to the study of LGBT movements in particular and social movements more generally. It is also a welcome addition to analyses of liberal democracies throughout Latin America.” -- Hector Carrillo * American Journal of Sociology *
“[T]he author’s history of homosexuality in Brazil and Mexico is lively…. Top-down changes in policy do not necessarily lead to cultural shifts. But in Latin America, as these authors show, today the grassroots are rising to the challenge.” -- Catesby Holmes * NACLA Report on the Americas *
“[A]nother wonderful piece of scholarship based on a decade of field research, including nearly 270 interviews with a wide range of respondents. . . . [A] beautifully written, eloquently argued, and entirely original work. De la Dehesa has written the first English-language monograph focused on the interaction of Latin American LGBT communities with party systems and the state. . . . This book is sure to find a wide audience, as it explores key issues in Latin American and sexuality studies, as well as in sociology and politics.” -- Elisabeth Jay Friedman * Signs *
“Rafael de la Dehesa has written an empirically rich and analytically nuanced book that explores the rise and development of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activist engagements with the state in Brazil and Mexico. . . . de la Dehesa makes a substantial contribution to our knowledge of LGBT movements and of Brazilian and Mexican politics. . . . [H]is comparative analysis deepens our understanding of how globalization, in particular the transnational project of liberal modernity, powerfully affects local activism, but in contingent and nonhomogenizing ways.” -- Deborah Gould * Perspectives on Politics *
“Rafael de la Dehesa’s work stands out among recent studies of social movement activism around sexual identities and scholarly publications on democratisation in Latin America. It breathes fresh air into the debate on the nature and meaning of the democratisation processes in the region and provides key insights on the role that civil society groups have played in domestic and transnational contexts. . . . Without any doubt this will soon become a seminal piece for anyone interested in interdisciplinary and comparative analyses, North and South.” -- Antonio Torres-Ruiz * Journal of Latin American Studies *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix
Preface xi
Introduction: Hybrid Modernities, Modern Sexualities 1
Part I. Frames
1. On Sexual Subjects and Public Spheres 27
Part II. Doorways
2. Occupying the Partisan Field: First Door on the Left 61
3. The Limits of Liberalization: Entering the Electoral Field 87
Part III. Pathways
4. Advancing Homosexual Citizenship: Brazil's Early Turn to Legislatures 115
5. Life at the Margins: Coalition Building and Sexual Diversity in the Mexican Legislature 146
6. Brazil without Homophobia, or, A Technocratic Alternative to Political Parties 178
Conclusion: The Hope and Fear of Institutions 204
Acronyms 219
Notes 221
Bibliography 247
Index 287
