The Ageing of the Archives: Community, Conflict, and Queer Potential at the Lesbian Herstory Archives

<p>The Lesbian Herstory Archives is the oldest and largest lesbian archives in the</p> <p>world. This dissertation project examines the role of this community archive in</p> <p>building, defining, redefining, and sustaining community over time. More</p> <p>specifically, this dissertation seeks to explore the relationship between queer</p> <p>archives and community through the following research questions:</p> <p>1. How does the act of archiving produce community?</p> <p>2. How does a community archive and project of collective memory, rooted</p> <p>in a specific identity, respond to a radically shifting socio-political</p> <p>climate?</p> <p>3. In what ways does the deployment of community produce boundaries of</p> <p>inclusion and exclusion?</p> <p>Drawing from interviews, participant observation, and archival research, this study</p> <p>explores how the changing Archives community mirrors the shifting socio-political</p> <p>climate of the United States. Special attention is paid to how the rhetoric of</p> <p>community is deployed by the Lesbian Herstory Archives in order to secure needed</p> <p>resources. Research findings suggest that the power of this rhetoric might be</p> <p>diminished over time as lesbian identity has become less salient and increasingly</p> <p>critiqued. Relatedly, this study reveals how, despite the best intentions of the</p> <p>organization’s founders, the rhetoric of community adopted by the Lesbian Herstory</p> <p>Archives has often relied on a falsely homogenizing understanding of community</p> <p>that is based on a universal lesbian identity construction, leading to exclusions</p> <p>based on race, class, and gender identity. Despite this fact, it is argued that this</p> <p>notion of community, while ambiguous and ripe for criticism, can be a powerful tool</p> <p>to mobilize individuals and groups.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Sociology

Year

2017

Author dc:creator

• Orr, Rebekah

Contributors dc:contributor

• Jackie Orr

• archives
• community
• lesbian
• queer
• Social and Behavioral Sciences

Repository record dc:identifier

https://surface.syr.edu/etd/803

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:surface.syr.edu:etd-1804