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Articles by Arlene Stein
Op-Ed: What a Street Corner Can Teach Us About Democracy
Subscribe today to access this content Get Access Every Wednesday at 8 a.m., we stand outside the Ninth Street light-rail station in Jersey City Heights holding signs. Some call out the corruption of the Trump administration. Others invite commuters to register to vote or reassure our immigrant neighbors that they belong here. We have done this every week for a year, in summer heat and snowstorms. Create a free account below to read two articles a month.
Op-Ed: Solutions to Jersey City’s Fiscal Crisis Must be Equitable
Subscribe today to listen to this content Get Access As the city deliberates how to close the $258 million budget gap left by the Fulop administration, let’s make sure the burden does not fall hardest on those least able to absorb it. By sharing your email address with us, you’ll be entitled to view two Jersey City Times articles each month. In addition, you’ll be signed up for the daily email “Jersey City Today, ” the weekly “This Weekend” events email, and our Sunday news roundup email.
America has buried its history with fascism
Masked officers conduct immigration raids. National Guard troops patrol American cities, and protesters decry their presence as a “fascist takeover.” White supremacists openly proclaim racist and antisemitic views. Is the United States sliding into fascism? It’s a question that divides a good portion of the country today.
America faced domestic fascists before and buried that history
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America faced domestic fascists before and buried that history
Embracing a belief in American exceptionalism – the idea that America is a unique and morally superior country – some historians suggest that “it can’t happen here,” echoing the satirical title of Sinclair Lewis’ 1935 book about creeping fascism in America. The social conditions required for fascism to take root do not exist in the U.S., these historians say.
America faced domestic fascists before and buried that history
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America faced domestic fascists before and buried that history
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Op-Ed: It’s Time to End the Dominance of Machine Politics in Jersey City
Jim McGreevey’s campaign for mayor is now distributing free phones and tablets in neighborhoods where he is actively courting votes. As much as I like free stuff, I’m skeptical of his motivations. McGreevey’s generosity is the hallmark of machine politics: buy goodwill through gifts –rather than by pursuing policies that truly benefit our communities. By sharing your email address with us, you’ll be entitled to view two Jersey City Times articles each month.
Op-Ed: Fulop’s Progressive Credentials Deserve Closer Scrutiny
Democrats are wondering who, in a crowded field of gubernatorial hopefuls, is best poised to oppose the Trump agenda. Steven Fulop, the mayor of Jersey City, would like us to believe he is the man. He says he is the only candidate who has personally stood up to Donald Trump—when he denied a tax abatement the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner had requested for a towering apartment building in the Journal Square neighborhood.
Progressive social movements spurred Holocaust consciousness by helping survivors tell their stories
Progressive social movements spurred Holocaust consciousness by helping survivors tell their stories
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Progressive social movements spurred Holocaust consciousness by helping survivors tell their stories
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Today, the destruction of European Jewry is widely recognized as a universal moral touchstone. A museum commemorating the destruction sits in our nation’s capital. Numerous states mandate Holocaust education. And when they speak in high school auditoriums and public libraries across the nation, the remaining survivors garner large, attentive audiences.
1990s Oregon campaigns anticipated Trump’s politics of division
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) The white working class surprised many pundits and social scientists by supporting Donald Trump, leading some to describe the election results as a “whitelash.” The fact that the president-elect successfully mobilized this population was far from inevitable. After all, a fair number of Trump supporters once voted for Obama.
1990s Oregon campaigns anticipated Trump’s politics of division
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What it’s like to be the target of a book ban
In this post, Arlene Stein reflects on the experience of having her book, Unbound: Transgender Men and the Remaking of Identity, targeted for possible removal from a public library. As a bonus, we invited Arlene to share more about this experience in a video interview; you can watch her conversation with blog editor Elena van Stee above. Last month I learned that my book Unbound, a study of transgender men, was targeted for possible removal from the public library by League City, Texas.
Gender, Authoritarian Populisms, and the Attack on Democracy
INTRODUCTION A few years ago, parents in communities across the nation received an anonymous flyer in the mail. It objected to three specific children's books and urged people to take a stand against them at upcoming board of education meetings. One of the books in question, the award-winning “When Aidan Became a Brother,” was on a recommended summer reading list for kindergartners and first-graders.
Ken Plummer obituary
Read full article Ken Plummer, who has died aged 76, of complications of kidney disease, was an internationally respected sociologist who taught at the University of Essex for 30 years. Inspired by the radical social movements of the 1970s, he pioneered the application of social constructionist ideas to an understanding of sexuality.
The Stranger Next Door
“Subtle, textured, and urgent . . . This crucial history of right-wing resentments speaks across recent decades of US politics.” —Judith Butler “The second edition of The Stranger Next Door could not be more relevant to the current backlash of homophobia and transphobia in the United States.
Moral Panics Never Go Out of Style: On the Corrosive Effects of the Culture Wars
Arlene Stein Considers the Racism and Homophobia at the Heart of Conservative Activism Long before Donald Trump occupied the White House, small communities across the Pacific northwest became laboratories for populist campaigns that exploited people’s fears and turned neighbors against one another. I’ll never forget Penny, a white single mother who told me that she resented those who used food stamps to buy avocados.
Knowledge is power-that’s why the right is attacking schools
Overview By attacking schools, Republicans are attacking democracy. We must prevent a minority from imposing their will on us and our children. Reading Time: 7 minutes In the early 1990s, I moved from California to Oregon to take a teaching position. Just as I arrived, a highly divisive battle over gay and lesbian rights rippled through the state, polarizing small communities.
The United States Is Not A Christian Nation—And Should Not Be Remade Into One - Public Seminar
Photo credit: Raihan B / Shutterstock.com When the Supreme Court ruled last month that a football coach at a public high school had the right to pray at the 50-yard line with his team, it opened the way for public school employees across the nation to lead their students in prayer. Kennedy v. Bremerton gives sports coaches, drama directors, speech and debate leaders, and teachers the right to engage in public expressions of personal religious belief in secular, tax-payer funded, spaces.
The United States Is Not A Christian Nation—And Should Not Be Remade Into One - Public Seminar
Photo credit: Raihan B / Shutterstock.com When the Supreme Court ruled last month that a football coach at a public high school had the right to pray at the 50-yard line with his team, it opened the way for public school employees across the nation to lead their students in prayer. Kennedy v. Bremerton gives sports coaches, drama directors, speech and debate leaders, and teachers the right to engage in public expressions of personal religious belief in secular, tax-payer funded, spaces.
The right’s gender wars are an assault on democracy
Anti-gender campaigns, which have animated authoritarian movements in Europe and Latin America, are sweeping across the United States, politicizing parenthood and enlisting parents in battles against so-called “woke” teachers and medical professionals. They target trans, non-binary and gender-expansive youth, as well as kids struggling with their sexuality.
Letter: Mayor Fulop Stop The Red-Baiting in Ward B
Dear Mayor Fulop, A friend who lives in the West Side neighborhood passed on a letter that you circulated in the neighborhood in support of Ward B councilwoman Mira Prinz-Arey, who is being challenged by Joel Brooks. I don’t have a horse in that city council race; I am a homeowner in the Heights. I have never met Joel Brooks. Nor have I participated in his campaign for city councilman.
Social Media Has Changed Academic Culture—For the Worse - Public Seminar
Photo credit: rudall30 / Shutterstock.com _____ “Been feeling pretty glum about academia recently,” a colleague tweeted recently. “Can be so toxic.” University faculty don’t have to worry about a lot of workplace hazards: for example, the physical costs of toiling in a factory, and or the risks of being exposed to COVID-19 on the job, like front-line workers. Still, academia can be a cruel and unforgiving place.
Jewish Fragility
When I receive appeals from Jewish organizations exhorting me to fight antisemitism—which, they claim, is on the rise here and abroad—I tend to toss them away. During many periods of time, and in many places, it has been dangerous to be Jewish; but that hardly seems true today. In Europe, the catastrophe of the Shoah inoculated modern nation-states against antisemitism, one of the oldest of hatreds. Consequently, we can assume It can’t happen again.
How Capitalism Changed American Literature
Fifty years ago, almost every publisher in the United States was independent. Beginning in the late 1960s, multinational corporations consolidated the industry. By 2007, four out of every five books on bookstore shelves were published by one of six conglomerates: corporate entities that hold businesses from different industries under one governing financial structure.
WORD JC Presents: Arlene Stein for UNBOUND
Celebrate Pride Month at WORD JC with Arlene Stein, who'll discuss her book Unbound: Transgender Men and the Remaking of Identity. Please note that admission to this event requires either a purchase of Unbound OR a $5 admission voucher. Books and vouchers can be purchased online in advance or at the door on the day of the event; advance orders will be available for pickup at the store on the day of the event.
How Fear and Anger Impact Democracy
Observing the rise of right-wing extremism across the world has led many to a familiar and long-established explanation: fear fosters support for far-right parties and politicians. This explanation continues a long tradition in political thought and commentary that attributes a foundational role to fear.
Arlene Stein A Reading her book UNBOUND, Transgender Men and the Remaking of Identity
East End Books Ptown welcomes Arlene Stein "Unbound: Transgender Men and the Remaking of Identity for a reading and book signing August 3rd at 4pm. Buy the book online or in store. RSVP for a Free Ticket via Eventbrite UNBOUND by Arlene Steinis a deep sociological portrait of a new generation of transgender men and of how they see themselves and the world, the dangers they continue to face, and the important ways in which they shape our culture.
FROM THE PAGE: Unbound: Transgender Men and the Remaking of Identity
According to an analysis by the Williams Institute in 2016, 1.4 million adults in the United States identify as transgender, with young adults (ages 18 to 24) most likely to say they are transgender. Sociologist Arlene Stein spent a year following the lives of four transgender young adults, capturing their experiences as they transitioned from their assigned gender.
America faced domestic fascists before and buried that history
Mobility Visionaries Take to the Global Stage at A… LOS ANGELES, Oct. 8, 2019 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ -- LA Auto Show's Press and Trade Event to Provide Four Packed Days of Breaking News, Debates, Debuts and Insights into the Future of MobilityO… NCCN Working with Medlive to Advance High-Quality … PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Nov.
Arlene Stein - Events - Harvard Book Store
Harvard Book Store and Mass Humanities welcome award-winning author, sociologist, and Rutgers professor ARLENE STEIN for a discussion of her latest book, Unbound: Transgender Men and the Remaking of Identity. She will be joined in conversation by Dr. RUBEN HOPWOOD, the Coordinator of the Transgender Health Program at Fenway Health.
‘Unbound’ Shows Transgender Men Ripping Up Old Scripts
As a teenager growing up in the 1970s, the sociologist Arlene Stein learned about homosexuality in a medical textbook she found at the public library.
Unbound: Transgender Men and the Remaking of Identity
An intimate portrait of a new generation of transmasculine individuals as they undergo gender transitions. Award-winning sociologist Arlene Stein takes us into the lives of four strangers who find themselves together in a sun-drenched surgeon’s office, having traveled to Florida from across the United States in order to masculinize their chests.
How a Guesthouse in Florida is Creating a Trans Community
Four guys are sitting on voluptuously padded recliners watching Breaking Bad on a huge flat-screen television with their legs elevated and drains attached to their chests. A copy of GQ with a cover of Katy Perry showing lots of cleavage is strewn on the coffee table. Meanwhile, their caregivers are busy preparing lunch in the nearby communal kitchen. Tristan, a blonde former navy lieutenant from St. Petersburg, Florida, is here with his mother, Theresa, who is in her late sixties.
(PDF) Whose memories? Whose victimhood? Contests for the Holocaust frame in recent social movement discourse
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The Well-Intentioned Boomer’s Guide to Gender Pronouns
The curly haired kid I once knew as Sam is now a 19-year-old college sophomore who goes by the name Robin. Today, Robin wishes to be referred to as “they” or “them” rather than “he” or “him.” When Robin came out as gay a few years ago, it barely raised eyebrows in their liberal, intellectual family. Eventually, Robin began to realize that they didn’t feel like a man at all, and was attracted to “people of different genders.” The standard labels did not seem to fit.
UNBOUND by Arlene Stein
A new sociological study on transgender individuals and their experience transitioning. In her latest, gender theorist Stein (Sociology/Rutgers Univ.; Reluctant Witnesses: Survivors, Their Children, and the Rise of Holocaust Consciousness, 2014, etc.) follows the lives of four individuals who have gone through the process of transitioning from female to male.
Trans Like Us | Public Books
When Caitlyn Jenner came out as transgender in 2015, many commentators praised her bravery for claiming a truth that had been denied her at birth. At roughly the same moment, the story of Rachel Dolezal, the 37-year-old … When Caitlyn Jenner came out as transgender in 2015, many commentators praised her bravery for claiming a truth that had been denied her at birth.
Feeling Like the Internet | Public Books
What has the advent of the internet meant for the novel? Apart, that is, from its having opened a gaping time-sucking sinkhole at the center of culture? The sweet drip-feed of sentiment and savagery ... What has the advent of the internet meant for the novel? Apart, that is, from its having opened a gaping time-sucking sinkhole at the center of culture?
The Book That Made Me: Belong | Public Books
The winner of our graduate essay contest shares how, despite a lifelong love of words, it was a book of images that ultimately helped the most … The Book That Made Me is a series reflecting on the books that have changed our lives. In this latest installment, the winner of our graduate essay contest shares how, despite a lifelong love of words, it was a book of images that ultimately helped the most in her time of need. The winner of our undergraduate essay contest was published yesterday.
Revenge of the Shamed: The Christian Right's Emotional Culture War
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Why institutions should shield academics who are being attacked by conservative groups (essay)
Threats to scholars are growing. John Eric Williams, an associate professor of sociology at Trinity College in Connecticut and Dana Cloud, a professor of communications and rhetorical studies at Syracuse University, are among the latest professors to face “physical threats or harassment, or both, for their political speech.” They both received unwanted attention, and their college and university received threats, for statements they made online that ran counter to right-wing orthodoxy.
Trans Like Us | Public Books
When Caitlin Jenner came out as transgender in 2015, many commentators praised her bravery for claiming a truth that had been denied her at birth. At roughly the same moment, the story of Rachel Dolezal, the 37-year-old … When Caitlin Jenner came out as transgender in 2015, many commentators praised her bravery for claiming a truth that had been denied her at birth.
Understanding Trumpism
Over 15 years ago I studied a local Christian right campaign against gay/lesbian rights in the Pacific Northwest for my book The Stranger Next Door. I spent a year interviewing people in a small timber community to try to understand why the issue of sexuality emerged there. They were white working and middle class people, mainly evangelical Christians. I met people who believed gays and lesbians are sexual predators who were out to convert their children.
Going Public
At a time when policy discussions are dominated by “I feel” instead of “I know,” it is more important than ever for social scientists to make themselves heard. When those who possess in-depth training and expertise are excluded from public debates about pressing social issues—such as climate change, the prison system, or healthcare—vested interests can sway public opinion in uninformed ways.
How Oregon predicted Trump’s partisan politics more than a decade ago
Timber communities gave way to right-wing nostalgia and a wave of progressive populism. Arlene Stein, Rutgers University/The Conversation Opinion Dec. 20, 2016 Like Tweet Email Print Subscribe Donate Now The white working class surprised many pundits and social scientists by supporting Donald Trump, leading some to describe the election results as a “whitelash.” The fact that the president-elect successfully mobilized this population was far from inevitable.
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