DOCSLIB.ORG

Conceiving a “Natural Family” Order: the World Congress of Families and Transnational Conservative Christian Politics

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Conceiving a “Natural Family” Order: the World Congress of Families and Transnational Conservative Christian Politics Conceiving a “Natural Family” Order: The World Congress of Families and Transnational Conservative Christian Politics DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Rita J. Trimble Graduate Program in Comparative Studies The Ohio State University 2014 Dissertation Committee: Professor Debra Moddelmog, Advisor Professor Tanya Erzen, Co-Advisor Professor Mytheli Sreenivas Professor Hugh Urban Copyright by Rita J. Trimble 2014 Abstract This dissertation focuses on the World Congress of Families (WCF), a transnational network of “pro-family” organizations striving to influence global sexual and gender norms. Previous scholarship characterizes WCF as a particular subset of the US Christian Right that has the makings of a global social movement. By contrast, I argue that WCF provides the intellectual core of a still-emerging transnational pro-family movement—albeit primarily a Euro-American one—comprised of organizations associated with intertwined networks of Catholic, Mormon, and Protestant Evangelical organizations. The alliance consolidates around the “natural family,” a heteronormative, marital, procreative, conservative Christian model. This dissertation investigates the affective and intellectual resonance of natural family discourse across various constituencies. It traces WCF materials, activities, interactions, and strategies around human rights issues related to population, sexuality, reproductive rights, marriage, women’s rights, LGBT equality, and religious freedom. These issues are hotly contested in international debates and interact with complex questions related to immigration, economic disparities, national sovereignty, and Western economic and cultural imperialism. I examine how these contestations overlap and combine in natural family discourse. My project builds on and extends earlier scholarship in at least two important ways. First, it provides more extensive contextualization for the rise of a transnational pro-family movement. I ground the WCF worldview and activism in a longer history of US Christian beliefs and organizing centered on “the family.” My analysis engages affect theory, conceiving emotions not as psychological states, but as social and cultural practices, highlighting emotions ii that matter in WCF’s global sexual politics. As such, my work illuminates the importance of emotions for transnational pro-family activism. A second contribution of this project is to provide a crucial update on recent pro-family activities, strategies, and inroads in the global civic sphere. US-based pro-family organizations like the Family Research Council, Alliance Defending Freedom, Concerned Women of America, Focus on the Family, Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (CFAM), and United Families International are key players, but support increasingly comes from outside the US, especially from Europe. WCF has successfully knit together new alliances and increased the frequency of WCF gatherings. These accomplishments warrant understanding WCF as central in a pro-family transnational movement, rather than a mere subset of the US Christian Right. WCF activities have become more coordinated, organized, and institutionalized in the past decade. Framing messages that resonate across various boundaries to build a broad coalition is a hallmark of Christian Right organizing, and WCF brings that skill to global politics. WCF gatherings and partnerships have helped shape a pro-family discourse that operates beyond US Christian Right arenas—especially among conservative Christians—in countries like Spain, Poland, and Russia which are experiencing declining fertility rates. I expect this research to contribute to debates on global biopolitics and the role of international civic engagement, as well as deliberations on balancing the protection of religious, sexual, and other competing human rights. iii Dedication For my family…in the broadest sense of the word… iv Acknowledgments I wish to thank my dissertation committee, especially co-advisors, Debra Moddelmog and Tanya Erzen, for their guidance and intellectual support throughout the dissertation process. Professor Erzen’s classes and scholarship have inspired my thinking and helped launch my academic journey. Her direction has been fundamental in my progress throughout. Professor Moddelmog’s queer theory course intensified my interest in sexuality studies, which became central to my work. Her wise advice and meticulous feedback have been vital in my success. I am thankful to Mytheli Sreenivas for teaching the course that helped me connect the dots between gender, family, and nationalism. I have also benefited from her expertise and valuable conversations about population politics. Similarly, Hugh Urban’s instruction in theorizing religion, as well as follow-up discussion, has been indispensable to my understanding of this project. I could not ask for better mentors than my committee members. I also owe a deep debt of gratitude for departmental support from current and former Comparative Studies colleagues and friends, including Philip Armstrong, Nina Berman, Tom Kasulis, Morgan Liu, Margaret Lynd, Elizabeth Marsch, Dan Reff, Brian Rotman, Maurice Stevens, Ruby Tapia, Shu-Wen Tsai, Julia Watson, and Lori Wilson. I especially appreciate the encouragement, advice, and friendship of fellow travelers in grad school. RaShelle Peck has been a dissertation writing partner extraordinaire; her reading and responses to draft after draft of each chapter and our ongoing dialogue have made all the difference. My project has benefited from years of rich intellectual exchanges with Sande Garner, who has also offered wise counsel on academic life beyond grad school. Along with Sande, Kate Dean-Haidet and Peggy Reynolds v have constituted an incredibly supportive Fab 4 cohort. Rebecca Adelman was and continues to be a peerless peer mentor. And I have enjoyed numerous scholarly and not so scholarly exchanges with Lindsay Bernhagen, Jennifer Black, Mike McVicar, Wamae Muriuki, Beth Shively, Nicole Rearick Vangas, and Lee Wiles. Finally, I also gratefully acknowledge the immense contributions of family and friends, without whose encouragement and patience I would never have made it: Andy Berisford, the Mountain Women, Kim Gignac, and my “Griswold” clan—my parents, Robbie and family, Nancy, James, Terry, Tyler, Tory, and most especially Tom. vi Vita 1980 .................................................................. B.S. English Education, The Ohio State University 2008 .................................................................. M.A. Comparative Studies, The Ohio State University 2006 to present .................................................. Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Comparative Studies, The Ohio State University Publications “The Threat of Demographic Winter: A Transnational Politics of Motherhood and Endangered Populations in Pro-Family Documentaries,” in Feminist Formations, 25(2), 30-54. Fields of Study Major Field: Comparative Studies vii Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................... ii Dedication ............................................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................................... v Vita ........................................................................................................................................................ vii Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 The Globalization of Sexual Politics ................................................................................................... 11 Globalization of US Conservative Christian Activism ......................................................................... 18 Overview of Methods and Remaining Chapters ................................................................................... 24 Affective Power in a Conservative Christian Family Worldview.......................................................... 35 Defending the Family in the Divinized Home: The Emergence of Christian Fundamentalists in the Early 1900s ................................................................................................................................................. 43 Defending Family Values: The Emergence of the Christian Right in the 1970s ................................... 50 Defending the Natural Family: The Emergence of WCF’s Global Pro-Family Movement in the Mid- 1990s ................................................................................................................................................. 61 Chapter 3: Marriage Makes a Family “Natural” ...................................................................................... 79 A Familiar Order ................................................................................................................................ 84 The Gravity of Wedded Bliss .............................................................................................................. 95 Faith in a “Natural Family” Economy ..............................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • CRITICAL THEORY and AUTHORITARIAN POPULISM Critical Theory and Authoritarian Populism
    CDSMS EDITED BY JEREMIAH MORELOCK CRITICAL THEORY AND AUTHORITARIAN POPULISM Critical Theory and Authoritarian Populism edited by Jeremiah Morelock Critical, Digital and Social Media Studies Series Editor: Christian Fuchs The peer-reviewed book series edited by Christian Fuchs publishes books that critically study the role of the internet and digital and social media in society. Titles analyse how power structures, digital capitalism, ideology and social struggles shape and are shaped by digital and social media. They use and develop critical theory discussing the political relevance and implications of studied topics. The series is a theoretical forum for in- ternet and social media research for books using methods and theories that challenge digital positivism; it also seeks to explore digital media ethics grounded in critical social theories and philosophy. Editorial Board Thomas Allmer, Mark Andrejevic, Miriyam Aouragh, Charles Brown, Eran Fisher, Peter Goodwin, Jonathan Hardy, Kylie Jarrett, Anastasia Kavada, Maria Michalis, Stefania Milan, Vincent Mosco, Jack Qiu, Jernej Amon Prodnik, Marisol Sandoval, Se- bastian Sevignani, Pieter Verdegem Published Critical Theory of Communication: New Readings of Lukács, Adorno, Marcuse, Honneth and Habermas in the Age of the Internet Christian Fuchs https://doi.org/10.16997/book1 Knowledge in the Age of Digital Capitalism: An Introduction to Cognitive Materialism Mariano Zukerfeld https://doi.org/10.16997/book3 Politicizing Digital Space: Theory, the Internet, and Renewing Democracy Trevor Garrison Smith https://doi.org/10.16997/book5 Capital, State, Empire: The New American Way of Digital Warfare Scott Timcke https://doi.org/10.16997/book6 The Spectacle 2.0: Reading Debord in the Context of Digital Capitalism Edited by Marco Briziarelli and Emiliana Armano https://doi.org/10.16997/book11 The Big Data Agenda: Data Ethics and Critical Data Studies Annika Richterich https://doi.org/10.16997/book14 Social Capital Online: Alienation and Accumulation Kane X.
    [Show full text]
  • Part Four - 'Made in America: Christian Fundamentalism' Transcript
    Part Four - 'Made in America: Christian Fundamentalism' Transcript Date: Wednesday, 10 November 2010 - 2:00PM Location: Barnard's Inn Hall 10 November 2010 Made in America Christian Fundamentalism Dr John A Dick Noam Chomsky: “We must bear in mind that the U.S. is a very fundamentalist society, perhaps more than any other society in the world – even more fundamentalist than Saudi Arabia or the Taliban. That's very surprising.” Overview: (1) Introduction (2) Five-stage evolution of fundamentalism in the United States (3) Features common to all fundamentalisms (4) What one does about fundamentalism INTRODUCTION: In 1980 the greatly respected American historian, George Marsden published Fundamentalism and American Culture, a history of the first decades of American fundamentalism. The book quickly rose to prominence, provoking new studies of American fundamentalism and contributing to a renewal of interest in American religious history. The book’s timing was fortunate, for it was published as a resurgent fundamentalism was becoming active in politics and society. The term “fundamentalism” was first applied in the 1920’s to Protestant movements in the United States that interpreted the Bible in an extreme and literal sense. In the United States, the term “fundamentalism” was first extended to other religious traditions around the time of the Iranian Revolution in 1978-79. In general all fundamentalist movements arise when traditional societies are forced to face a kind of social disintegration of their way of life, a loss of personal and group meaning and the introduction of new customs that lead to a loss of personal and group orientation.
    [Show full text]
  • Varieties of Familialism: Comparing Four Southern European and East Asian Welfare Regimes
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Saraceno, Chiara Article — Published Version Varieties of familialism: Comparing four southern European and East Asian welfare regimes Journal of european social policy Provided in Cooperation with: WZB Berlin Social Science Center Suggested Citation: Saraceno, Chiara (2016) : Varieties of familialism: Comparing four southern European and East Asian welfare regimes, Journal of european social policy, ISSN 1461-7269, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, Vol. 26, Iss. 4, pp. 314–326, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0958928716657275 This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/171966 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. www.econstor.eu ESP0010.1177/0958928716657275Journal of European Social PolicySaraceno 657275research-article2016 Journal Of European Article Social Policy Journal of European Social Policy 2016, Vol.
    [Show full text]
  • 1327 American Grand Strat Text
    DAY V U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS:THE U.S. DOMESTIC CONTEXT THOMAS E. DONILON1 PARTNER O’MELVENY & MYERS LLP u U.S. relations with China have for decades been subject to the push and pull of domestic politi- cal influences and pressures. As Ambassador Richard Holbrooke recently noted, “[w]hat vastly complicates U.S.-China relations is that every major policy issue between the two countries is also a domestic matter with its own lobbying groups and nongovernmental organizations ranging across the political spectrum.”2 These influences have ebbed and flowed over time. During the 1950s, the “Who Lost China” debate and domestic fears over Communist infiltration played a major role in shaping U.S. attitudes Seven Presidents from both toward “Red China.” By the 1970s, the strategic priority of containing the Soviet political parties have pursued a bloc had submerged hostile domestic atti- strikingly consistent policy of tudes toward China and allowed President Nixon to make his historic “opening” in engagement toward China. 1972. Subsequently, the collapse of the Soviet Union eroded the foundation on which the Sino-American relationship had been built, leaving it exposed to the currents of domes- tic opinion and the hailstorm of criticism after the events at Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. Through it all, seven Presidents from both political parties have pursued a strikingly consistent policy of engagement toward China with the goal of integrating the People’s Republic into full and constructive membership in the international community.3 On the surface, the George W. Bush years have seen stability and relative calm in U.S.-China relations.
    [Show full text]
  • Family Research Council As Amicus Curiae in Support of the Respondent ______
    Nos. 18-1323 & 18-1460 In the Supreme Court of the United States _____________ JUNE MEDICAL SERVICES LLC, ET AL., Petitioners and Cross-Respondents, v. DR. REBEKAH GEE, SECRETARY, LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HOSPITALS, Respondent and Cross-Petitioner. _____________ ON WRITS OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT _____________ BRIEF OF FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL AS AMICUS CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF THE RESPONDENT _____________ TRAVIS S. WEBER JONATHAN F. MITCHELL KATHERINE BECK JOHNSON Counsel of Record Family Research Council Mitchell Law PLLC 801 G Street NW 111 Congress Avenue Washington, DC 20001 Suite 400 (800) 225-4008 Austin, Texas 78701 [email protected] (512) 686-3940 [email protected] [email protected] Counsel for Amicus Curiae ! TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of contents ................................................................... i! Table of authorities ............................................................. iii! Interest of amicus curiae ...................................................... 1! Summary of argument .......................................................... 2! I.! The plaintiffs lack statutory standing to challenge Act 620 ....................................................... 5! A.! The plaintiffs must identify a cause of action that authorizes them to sue state officials who violate the constitutional rights of third parties ......................................... 6! B.! There is no cause of action that authorizes abortion providers to sue state officials who violate
    [Show full text]
  • Pat Buchanan Has Appeal to Racial Fear and the Been One of the Loudest Voices in This Regard, Writing in May ‘Brown’ Threat to ‘White’ America 2007
    IN FOCUS (P)REVIEWING THE Right Wing ON IMMIGRATION REFORM 1: Appeal to 2: Portray Latino Racial Fears Leaders as Racists 3: Portray Immigrants 4: Portray Immigrants 5: Portray Immigrants as Invaders as Criminals as Disease Carriers 6: Stop Reform by 7: Denigrate Reform 8: ‘Anti-Immigrant= 9: Push Divisive Shouting ‘Amnesty’ Efforts as Vote-Buying Pro-Worker’ Black-Brown Wedge A joint project of People For the American Way and People For the American Way Foundation WWW.pfaw.ORG WWW.RIGHTWINGwaTCH.ORG (P)REVIEWING THE RIGHT-WING PLAYBOOK ON IMMIGRATION REFORM Opponents of Comprehensive Immigration Reform Will Exploit U.S. Economic Woes As Addition to Arsenal of Anti-Latino, Anti-Immigrant Strategies Vicious rhetoric in previous debates was accompanied by rise in anti-Latino hate crimes Introduction against Latinos in the U.S., fair-minded Americans should be prepared to challenge and hold accountable media figures here is near-universal agreement that America’s and public officials who use the debate over immigration immigration system is not working well. Several policy to foment dangerous and destructive racial and ethnic Tyears ago, broad bipartisan agreement was reached on resentments. a comprehensive approach to reform that would uphold the rule of law, serve America’s MICHEllE MalKIN BlaMed economic needs, and honor our values and history as a nation of immigrants. Among ‘illeGal IMMIGraNts’ FOR the elements of principled and workable comprehensive immigration reform are THE MOrtGAGE crisis. improved enforcement of immigration regulations, revised guest worker policies, and some process for undocumented immigrants now in the country to earn their way toward citizenship.
    [Show full text]
  • The Heritage Foundation and Family Research Council: Mirror Images of Hate
    The Heritage Foundation and Family Research Council: Mirror Images of Hate The Heritage Foundation is fond of branding itself as a think tank of establishment conservatives. In reality, Heritage regularly spouts hateful ideas that are detrimental to LGBTQ individuals, women, people of color and low-income workers. Heritage’s policy positions are not dissimilar from those of peer organizations such as the Family Research Council (FRC) that have earned designation from the Southern Poverty Law Center as hate groups. More information on Heritage’s hateful policies and its influence on the Trump administration can be found in our report, “The Heritage Foundation’s Health Department: How an Increasingly Radical Right Wing Think Tank Is Controlling HHS — to the Detriment of Reproductive Health and Other Human Rights.” Policy Position Comparison Between The Heritage Foundation and the Family Research Council The Heritage Foundation Family Research Council Anti-Abortion Heritage Is Opposed to a Women's Right to FRC Believes Roe v. Wade Was Wrongly Obtain an Abortion and Works to Undermine Decided and Actively Works to Have the Women’s Access to Reproductive Healthcare Decision Reversed "Since Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton "Few things touch on the sanctity of effectively legalized abortion on demand, more human life more than the practice of than 58 million children have been denied the abortion. A pregnancy should not simply right to life. For over forty years the pro-life be 'terminated,' as if it were something community has worked to counter the impersonal and problematic and it cannot devastating impact abortion has had on be without physical and emotional mothers, fathers, and their unborn babies, consequences.
    [Show full text]
  • The Secret Mormon Meetings of 1922
    University of Nevada, Reno THE SECRET MORMON MEETINGS OF 1922 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History By Shannon Caldwell Montez C. Elizabeth Raymond, Ph.D. / Thesis Advisor December 2019 Copyright by Shannon Caldwell Montez 2019 All Rights Reserved UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA RENO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL We recommend that the thesis prepared under our supervision by SHANNON CALDWELL MONTEZ entitled The Secret Mormon Meetings of 1922 be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS C. Elizabeth Raymond, Ph.D., Advisor Cameron B. Strang, Ph.D., Committee Member Greta E. de Jong, Ph.D., Committee Member Erin E. Stiles, Ph.D., Graduate School Representative David W. Zeh, Ph.D., Dean, Graduate School December 2019 i Abstract B. H. Roberts presented information to the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in January of 1922 that fundamentally challenged the entire premise of their religious beliefs. New research shows that in addition to church leadership, this information was also presented during the neXt few months to a select group of highly educated Mormon men and women outside of church hierarchy. This group represented many aspects of Mormon belief, different areas of eXpertise, and varying approaches to dealing with challenging information. Their stories create a beautiful tapestry of Mormon life in the transition years from polygamy, frontier life, and resistance to statehood, assimilation, and respectability. A study of the people involved illuminates an important, overlooked, underappreciated, and eXciting period of Mormon history.
    [Show full text]
  • Religious Freedom for Churches the U.S
    Protecting how we practice our faith BRUCE HAUSKNECHT, ESQ Paying a High Price 2 PAYING A HIGH PRICE Religious Freedom for Churches The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. today for religious freedom in the U.S. (and not just and Religious Organizations 3 Hodges,1 handed down on June 26, 2015, made in regard to marriage): same-sex marriage the law of the land and created Religious Freedom a “new” set of constitutional rights. By a vote of 5-4, ■ Aaron and Melissa Klein3 are a Christian in the Military 5 the millennia-old, one-man, one-woman definition couple from Gresham, Oregon, who owned of marriage was tossed aside in favor of sexual a bakery. They were fined $135,000 by the Religious Freedom liberty—a decision that will have profound effects state for failing to bake a cake for a same-sex in Public Schools 7 on American life and the freedoms we often take wedding, and have been forced to close their for granted. bakery due to the controversy. Religious Freedom in the Workplace 10 In 2016, the Obergefell impact spread to the issue of “gender identity” as the U.S. Department of Education issued an edict to the nation's schools, Religious Freedom in Government saying that boys who claim to “identify” as girls (and and the Public Square 11 vice versa) can choose to use the restrooms, locker rooms, and shower facilities of the opposite sex. What Can I Do to Common sense, public safety, and the orthodox Protect Religious Freedom? 13 Christian view2 that “male and female He created them” have been rejected in the government push for the new sexual orthodoxy made possible by 4 ■ Barronelle Stutzman, a florist in the Obergefell ruling.
    [Show full text]
  • November-December 1966, Vol. XVIII, No. 1
    t % AIR UNIVERSITY Heview Alr Ur|iversity Librar> MOV ' 9 1956 ' r^xwell AFB, A/a. 3611 f. eme act>©n USAF’S ROLE IN LATIN AMERICA: MILITARY ASSISTANCE, EDUCATION, AND PREVENTIVE MEDICINE CIVIC ACTION NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1966 W hy Mil it a h y Assist a n c e for Latin Amer ica ? .....................................................................................2 Col. Frank R. Pancake, usaf (Ret) T he Lvter-Amer ica n Air Forces Academy........................................................................................... 13 Dr. A. Glenn Morton Preventive Med ic in e Civ ic Action Trainixc P rocram.........................................................................21 Maj. Mathew T. Dunn, usaf Maj. James B. Jones, usaf T he Spe c t r u m Construct of Conflict..............................................................................................................30 Norman Precoda Axa l ysis and Technology........................................................................................................................................45 Maj. Paul L. Gray, usaf Melvin Tanchel F rench Nuclear Wea pon s Policy...........................................................................................................................55 Lt. Col. Norman D. Eaton, usaf Aer o xa ut ica l Ge r ia t r ic s..............................................................................................................................................62 Col. I. R. Perkin, usaf Satellite Ground Tracks......................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • ("DSCC") Files This Complaint Seeking an Immediate Investigation by the 7
    COMPLAINT BEFORE THE FEDERAL ELECTION CBHMISSIOAl INTRODUCTXON - 1 The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ("DSCC") 7-_. J _j. c files this complaint seeking an immediate investigation by the 7 c; a > Federal Election Commission into the illegal spending A* practices of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee (WRSCIt). As the public record shows, and an investigation will confirm, the NRSC and a series of ostensibly nonprofit, nonpartisan groups have undertaken a significant and sustained effort to funnel "soft money101 into federal elections in violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended or "the Act"), 2 U.S.C. 5s 431 et seq., and the Federal Election Commission (peFECt)Regulations, 11 C.F.R. 85 100.1 & sea. 'The term "aoft money" as ueed in this Complaint means funds,that would not be lawful for use in connection with any federal election (e.g., corporate or labor organization treasury funds, contributions in excess of the relevant contribution limit for federal elections). THE FACTS IN TBIS CABE On November 24, 1992, the state of Georgia held a unique runoff election for the office of United States Senator. Georgia law provided for a runoff if no candidate in the regularly scheduled November 3 general election received in excess of 50 percent of the vote. The 1992 runoff in Georg a was a hotly contested race between the Democratic incumbent Wyche Fowler, and his Republican opponent, Paul Coverdell. The Republicans presented this election as a %ust-win81 election. Exhibit 1. The Republicans were so intent on victory that Senator Dole announced he was willing to give up his seat on the Senate Agriculture Committee for Coverdell, if necessary.
    [Show full text]
  • TRANSFORMATIONS Comparative Study of Social Transformations
    TRANSFORMATIONS comparative study of social transformations CSST WORKING PAPERS The University of Michigan Ann Arbor "Consumer Cultures, Political Discourse and the Problem of Cultural Politics" Fraflk Mort CSST Working CRSO Working Paper #86 Paper $482 Consumer Cultures, political Discourse and the Problem of Cultural Politics Frank Mort, Portsmouth Polytechnic, United Kingdom Paper Presented to Session IV of the 'Power' Conference, University of Michigan, USA, January 1992 Every quarter the Henley Centre for Forecasting publishes its survey of leisure in the United Kingdom. A prestige marketing organization, specializing in long-term planning for the consumer industries, Henley has developed a strong - track-record for in-depth social research. One of its survey findings makes particularly depressing, if familiar, reading. Throughout 1986 a sample profile was monitored for their main leisure patterns. What came out top were a list of late twentieth century pleasures which are principally made- available through market based structures: personal shopping, eating take-away meals, DIY, video watching. Right at the bottom of the list came politics. Going to a political meeting ranked on a par with a visit to the circus as one of our last likely things to do! Politics as something pleasurable, as something to do with one's disposable leisure time, it seems, is a decided non-starter. 1 This paper is focused via two inter-related themes touched on by the Henley Centre's survey: the articulation between a series of post-war political discourses and the leisure cultures of contemporary consumer capitalism. The arguments centre primarily on British politics and culture, though many of the debates reviewed present their analysis more globally, speaking of general characteristics of the 'advancedt industrial economies, the 'mature' democracies, and so on.
    [Show full text]