History Commons^™

Critical Politics In A Neoliberal Institution: Gay And Lesbian Organizing At Swarthmore College, 1988-1993, Ali Roseberry-Polier , '14

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This paper studies gay and lesbian organizing at Swarthmore as part of national trends of neoliberalism, multiculturalism, and queer politics in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Students in this period achieved numerous concrete gains and institutional resources, particularly the establishment of an annual gay and lesbian studies conference and the Intercultural Center. In the process, they entered into new coalitions with each other, changing the way that students conceptualized identity and engaged with the school. Change was limited due to Swarthmore's corporate priorities and the challenges of achieving cultural transformation, but the process of organizing marked a valuable way …