Book review of Barry D. Adam, Jan Willem Duyvendak and Andre Krouwel (Eds.), The Global Emergence of Gay and Lesbian Politics: National Imprints of a Worldwide Movement. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1999. $59.95 hardcover, $22.95 papercover

Tully, Carol T.

English

ScholarWorks at WMU

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare Volume 27 Issue 1 March - Special Issue on the Changing American Mosaic Article 10 March 2000 Review of The Global Emergence of Gay and Lesbian Politics: National Imprints of a Worldwide Movement. Barry D. Adam, Jan Willem Duyvendak and Andre Krouwel (Eds.). Reviewed by Carol T. Tully, Tulane University. Carol T. Tully Tulane University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw  Part of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons, and the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Tully, Carol T. (2000) "Review of The Global Emergence of Gay and Lesbian Politics: National Imprints of a Worldwide Movement. Barry D. Adam, Jan Willem Duyvendak and Andre Krouwel (Eds.). Reviewed by Carol T. Tully, Tulane University.," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 27 : Iss. 1 , Article 10. Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol27/iss1/10 This Book Review is brought to you by the Western Michigan University School of Social Work. For more information, please contact wmu-scholarworks@wmich.edu. Book ReviewsBarry D. Adam, Jan Willem Duyvendak and Andre Krouwel(Eds.), The Global Emergence of Gay and Lesbian Politics: NationalImprints of a Worldwide Movement. Philadelphia, PA: TempleUniversity Press, 1999. $59.95 hardcover, $22.95 papercover.Adam, Duyvendak, and Krouwel wanted to provide an over-view of both existing lesbian and gay social-political movementsand to place these movements into an historical context. Theyacknowledge that little work has been done in this field, and, inan effort to explore the phenomenon of gay and lesbian politicsform a worldwide perspective, the editors provided what theycall "portraits" of fourteen countries. To ensure a global perspec-tive, countries from each of the five continents are included. Theattempt to present a global perspective related to lesbian and gaypolitical and social movements is an ambitious one and the editorshave done a laudable job of exploring content that has been largelyoverlooked by other scholars.The 318 page, indexed text includes introductory and sum-mary chapters authored by the editors and 12 chapters that in-clude content from the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina,Britain, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Romania, Hungary, theCzech Republic, South Africa, Japan, and Australia. A total of 17different authors contributed to this effort, and while there is someunevenness in chapter length and scholarship, the book is fasci-nating if one has an interest in gay and lesbian political, historical,or social movements. There are several recurring themes woventhroughout chapters that focus on specific countries. Specificallyrelated to the country being analyzed, themes include: legal is-sues, an historical overview of the lesbian and gay movements,AIDS and its impact, political realities, and differences betweenlesbian and gay men's views and approaches.Most of the authors try and link their essays to existing the-oretical or conceptual frameworks thereby demonstrating howlesbian and gay sociopolitical activities fit into existing constructs.And the overarching theme has to be viewed as one of empow-erment. Across the globe political activism in gay and lesbian175176 Journal of Sociology & Social Welfarecommunities has evolved from small groups meeting in house-hold kitchens to national demonstrations and parades. Once de-nied legal rights, lesbians and gay men on every continent aredemanding personal freedom. Continuing hate crimes, lingeringdiscrimination, and ongoing homophobia shadow these positiveoutcomes. But the themes of resiliency and determination areclearly evident.The book has many strengths. Each chapter has been wellresearched and includes notes and references. It is generally wellwritten and easily read. The reader must be prepared to movethrough it slowly only because there is a vast amount of con-tent included. The final summative chapter does a fine job ofsynthesizing, comparing, and contrasting earlier materials whichhelps the reader integrate content. There are some weaknessestoo. There is a tendency for some authors to rely heavily onsecondary references when exploring history and some of thechapters were written four years before the book ever reachedthe press. Therefore, one must trust that the data from the orig-inal sources has been accurately portrayed and then correctlyinterpreted by the current authors (sometimes a quantum leap).Further, one must be aware that some of the materials are datedand perhaps do not reflect current ideology (or even countrystructure). Some chapters are hard to read simply because of theextensive use of acronyms. For those who are monolingual, whenthe acronym's letters do not fit the actual title, it may becomeconfusing.In a world of diversity, this book should find a home firstin the libraries of queer scholars and then in the offices of so-ciologists, political scientists, and historians. Its worldwide per-spective should make The Emergence of Gay and Lesbian Politicsof interest beyond the United States as its major themes haveimportance for wherever lesbians and gay men are strugglingfor legal and human rights, and its historical analysis providestips for emerging gay and lesbian sociopolitical organizations andmovements.Carol T. TullyTulane University

Review of \u3cem\u3eThe Global Emergence of Gay and Lesbian Politics: National Imprints of a Worldwide Movement.\u3c/em\u3e Barry D. Adam, Jan Willem Duyvendak and Andre Krouwel (Eds.). Reviewed by Carol T. Tully, Tulane University.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare 
Volume 27 
Issue 1 March - Special Issue on the Changing 
American Mosaic 
Article 10 
March 2000 
Review of The Global Emergence of Gay and Lesbian Politics: 
National Imprints of a Worldwide Movement. Barry D. Adam, Jan 
Willem Duyvendak and Andre Krouwel (Eds.). Reviewed by Carol T. 
Tully, Tulane University. 
Carol T. Tully 
Tulane University 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw 
 Part of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons, and the Social Work Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Tully, Carol T. (2000) "Review of The Global Emergence of Gay and Lesbian Politics: National Imprints of a 
Worldwide Movement. Barry D. Adam, Jan Willem Duyvendak and Andre Krouwel (Eds.). Reviewed by 
Carol T. Tully, Tulane University.," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 27 : Iss. 1 , Article 10. 
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol27/iss1/10 
This Book Review is brought to you by the Western 
Michigan University School of Social Work. For more 
information, please contact wmu-
scholarworks@wmich.edu. 
Book Reviews
Barry D. Adam, Jan Willem Duyvendak and Andre Krouwel
(Eds.), The Global Emergence of Gay and Lesbian Politics: National
Imprints of a Worldwide Movement. Philadelphia, PA: Temple
University Press, 1999. $59.95 hardcover, $22.95 papercover.
Adam, Duyvendak, and Krouwel wanted to provide an over-
view of both existing lesbian and gay social-political movements
and to place these movements into an historical context. They
acknowledge that little work has been done in this field, and, in
an effort to explore the phenomenon of gay and lesbian politics
form a worldwide perspective, the editors provided what they
call "portraits" of fourteen countries. To ensure a global perspec-
tive, countries from each of the five continents are included. The
attempt to present a global perspective related to lesbian and gay
political and social movements is an ambitious one and the editors
have done a laudable job of exploring content that has been largely
overlooked by other scholars.
The 318 page, indexed text includes introductory and sum-
mary chapters authored by the editors and 12 chapters that in-
clude content from the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina,
Britain, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Romania, Hungary, the
Czech Republic, South Africa, Japan, and Australia. A total of 17
different authors contributed to this effort, and while there is some
unevenness in chapter length and scholarship, the book is fasci-
nating if one has an interest in gay and lesbian political, historical,
or social movements. There are several recurring themes woven
throughout chapters that focus on specific countries. Specifically
related to the country being analyzed, themes include: legal is-
sues, an historical overview of the lesbian and gay movements,
AIDS and its impact, political realities, and differences between
lesbian and gay men's views and approaches.
Most of the authors try and link their essays to existing the-
oretical or conceptual frameworks thereby demonstrating how
lesbian and gay sociopolitical activities fit into existing constructs.
And the overarching theme has to be viewed as one of empow-
erment. Across the globe political activism in gay and lesbian
175
176 Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
communities has evolved from small groups meeting in house-
hold kitchens to national demonstrations and parades. Once de-
nied legal rights, lesbians and gay men on every continent are
demanding personal freedom. Continuing hate crimes, lingering
discrimination, and ongoing homophobia shadow these positive
outcomes. But the themes of resiliency and determination are
clearly evident.
The book has many strengths. Each chapter has been well
researched and includes notes and references. It is generally well
written and easily read. The reader must be prepared to move
through it slowly only because there is a vast amount of con-
tent included. The final summative chapter does a fine job of
synthesizing, comparing, and contrasting earlier materials which
helps the reader integrate content. There are some weaknesses
too. There is a tendency for some authors to rely heavily on
secondary references when exploring history and some of the
chapters were written four years before the book ever reached
the press. Therefore, one must trust that the data from the orig-
inal sources has been accurately portrayed and then correctly
interpreted by the current authors (sometimes a quantum leap).
Further, one must be aware that some of the materials are dated
and perhaps do not reflect current ideology (or even country
structure). Some chapters are hard to read simply because of the
extensive use of acronyms. For those who are monolingual, when
the acronym's letters do not fit the actual title, it may become
confusing.
In a world of diversity, this book should find a home first
in the libraries of queer scholars and then in the offices of so-
ciologists, political scientists, and historians. Its worldwide per-
spective should make The Emergence of Gay and Lesbian Politics
of interest beyond the United States as its major themes have
importance for wherever lesbians and gay men are struggling
for legal and human rights, and its historical analysis provides
tips for emerging gay and lesbian sociopolitical organizations and
movements.
Carol T. Tully
Tulane University


https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2633&amp;context=jssw

Review of \u3cem\u3eThe Global Emergence of Gay and Lesbian Politics: National Imprints of a Worldwide Movement.\u3c/em\u3e Barry D. Adam, Jan Willem Duyvendak and Andre Krouwel (Eds.). Reviewed by Carol T. Tully, Tulane University.

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