The politics of time: Deleuze,duration and alter-globalisation

Alex Callinicos, in An Anti-Capitalist Manifesto, criticises Gilles Deleuze's work for its ostensible apolitical aestheticism, and for its correlative undermining of the concept of authenticity so important to political activism. He accordingly valorises the November 1999 mass protests in Seattle against the WTO and economic globalisation as expressing reinvigorated neo-Marxist social critique and rejuvenated belief in authenticity. Both of these, he maintains, are underpinned by insight into the problematic politico-economic excesses of neoliberalism and recognition of the philosophical limitations of post-structural thought, particularly that of Deleuze. Against the backdrop of such criticism, this article considers the value of Deleuze's (and Félix Guattari's) politicisation of time and memory, as a heuristic device that renders conspicuous the durational concerns currently animating the alter-globalisation struggle. Durational concerns which, since the Second World War, have been successively marginalised through developmental time and neoliberal time, and which now face displacement, yet again, through attempts (such as those of Callinicos) to subsume them within the time of dialectical materialism. Arguably, this move threatens to curb the diverse temporalities currently being produced by alter-globalisation supporters, using the internet and related digital media, as part of a tactical effort to resist neoliberal hegemony.     

Feminism and Evolutionary Psychology: Allies, Adversaries, or Both? An Introduction to a Special Issue

This special issue on feminism and evolutionary psychology addresses current theory and research from feminist and evolutionary psychologists, focusing on gender differences in mate selection as conceptualized by Sexual Strategies Theory. This introduction begins with feminist critiques of evolutionary psychology as well as attempts by Darwinian feminists to integrate the two. It then reviews the papers, which generally fit into one of three lines of research. One group of papers critiques evolutionary psychology claims and presents research to support alternative theoretical explanations. A second group uses evolutionary psychology to support research on gender differences in alignment with Sexual Strategies Theory. A third group utilizes theory and empirical research to integrate evolutionary psychology and feminist theories. The introduction concludes with a call for furthering our understanding of the relationship between these theories.     

Exploring Normative Creativity: Testing the Relationship Between Cognitive Flexibility and Sexual Identity

Brown (1989) proposed that lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals possess greater “normative creativity” and flexibility than heterosexuals because they have fewer norms for living in heterosexually dominated society. In this article we explore one possible individual difference between heterosexuals and nonheterosexuals in the domain of normative creativity by examining the relationship between cognitive flexibility and sexual identity among 358 university students. Participants with sexual identities not directed toward one gender exclusively (e.g., bisexual, biaffectionate, or queer) scored significantly higher on a measure of cognitive flexibility than did heterosexual and gay/lesbian participants; the latter two groups did not differ from each other. These results suggest that it is having a nonexclusive sexual identity, rather than a lesbian or gay identity, that is related to greater cognitive flexibility.     

In Search of Looks, Status, or Something Else? Partner Preferences Among Butch and Femme Lesbians and Heterosexual Men and Women

Previous research posited that butch lesbians are physiologically similar to heterosexual men, and by implication, femme lesbians physiologically resemble heterosexual women. The current study sought to compare partner preferences among butch and femme lesbians, as well as heterosexual women and men. More than 600 personal advertisements from newspapers and websites across the United States were examined. Forty-seven percent of advertisers indicated their race; of those, 60% were White and 29% Black. Testing competing hypotheses, support was found for a unique constellation of partner preferences for lesbians that is not fully explained by social exchange theory or evolutionary psychology theories.     

Sexual identity development in the context of compulsory heterosexuality

This study analyzed the implications of sexual identity development for global, political, religious, and occupational identity development in 358 college students. Participants completed a written survey packet including the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (EOM-EIS) and measures of sexual identity, physical/sexual preference, and emotional/affective preference. Data from the EOM-EIS suggest that having a sexual minority identity (lesbian, gay, bisexual, or "other" nonheterosexual identity) and reporting strong same-sex sexual or physical preferences are linked with more advanced global, political, religious, and occupational identity development. Heterosexual-identified participants were more likely to score high on identity foreclosure, moratorium, and diffusion, while sexual-minority-identified individuals scored higher on identity achievement. Individuals with strong same-sex physical/sexual preferences showed a pattern of results similar to those of sexual-minority-identified participants. Themes coded from a free-response question highlighted the finding that sexual-minority-identified participants more often viewed their sexual identity as salient and involving an effortful process. These individuals also stressed the importance of having support or modeling for their sexual identity.     

In Search of Complexity: Seeking to Integrate Feminist and Evolutionary Perspectives in Psychology

This Special Section of Sex Roles, “Commentaries on the Special Issue: Feminist Reappraisals of Evolutionary Psychology” (Smith and Konik 2013), continues the interchange among researchers who are approaching psychology from evolutionary and/or feminist perspectives that began in the May 2011 issue. This introduction to the current Special Section focuses on two themes: (1) constraints caused by both disciplinarity and the researcher’s location need to be transcended, and (2) nature and nurture must be recognized as interrelated concepts when utilizing evolutionary and feminist frameworks. In addressing these themes, we highlight how they are apparent in the collection of works published in this Special Section. It is clear that both feminist and evolutionary scholarship has matured to the point where, given appropriate conceptual complexity, both can continue to develop.     

Reconsidering Foucault’s dialogue with Buddhism

Against the backdrop of various interpretations and criticisms of Michel Foucault’s engagement with Buddhism, the focus of this article falls on the specific type of Zen Buddhism which he studied during his 1978 trip to Japan, and the possible relationship between its dynamics and those of his own research trajectory following the publication of The Will to Knowledge. In this regard, Foucault’s eschewal of the Engaged Buddhism of Thich Nhat Hanh and the Zen Buddhism of Taisen Deshimaru—both of which had risen to prominence in France by the late 1970s— and his concomitant interest instead in the teachings of Zen Master Omori Sōgen, in which Zen and the samurai code of bushidō were closely aligned, will be examined. Moreover, it will be argued that such preference on Foucault’s part was indicative of his eminently practical, rather than general philosophical, interest in Buddhism as a technology for the adversarial repositioning of subjectivity in relation to discourse. Finally, the implications of this for the abovementioned various interpretations and criticisms of Foucault’s engagement with Buddhism, will be considered.     

Slurs, Snubs, and Queer Jokes: Incidence and Impact of Heterosexist Harassment in Academia

Previous research has suggested that overt hostility against sexual minorities is associated with decrements in their well-being. However, subtler forms of heterosexism and their potential effects have been overlooked, heterosexuals have not been asked how they fare in a heterosexist environment, and no research has examined whether women and men might respond differently to heterosexism. Data from 3,128 northwestern US university students (representing all sexual orientations) address these gaps. Approximately 40% reported experiences of heterosexist harassment (HH) in the past year, and those who encountered both ambient and personal HH reported worse psychological and academic well-being than those who encountered no HH. Similar patterns of findings held for sexual minorities and heterosexuals, and for women and men. This paper is based on a presentation given at the American Psychological Association Convention in Toronto, Ontario in August 2003.