Stephen M. Engel: Disrupting Dignity

Disrupting Dignity: Rethinking Power and Progress in LGBTQ Lives

By Stephen M. Engel and Timothy S. Lyle

JMC fellow Stephen M. Engel and Timothy S. Lyle have co-written a book, Disrupting Dignity: Rethinking Power and Progress in LGBTQ Lives:

In 2015, when the Supreme Court declared that gay and lesbian couples were entitled to the “equal dignity” of marriage recognition, the concept of dignity became a cornerstone for gay rights victories. In Disrupting Dignity, Stephen M. Engel and Timothy S. Lyle explore the darker side of dignity, tracing its invocation across public health politics, popular culture, and law from the early years of the HIV/AIDS crisis to our current moment.

With a compassionate eye, Engel and Lyle detail how politicians, policymakers, media leaders, and even some within LGBTQ+ communities have used the concept of dignity to shame and disempower members of those communities. They convincingly show how dignity—and the subsequent chase to be defined by its terms—became a tool of the state and the marketplace thereby limiting its more radical potential.

Ultimately, Engel and Lyle challenge our understanding of dignity as an unquestioned good. They expose the constraining work it accomplishes and the exclusionary ideas about respectability that it promotes. To restore a lost past and point to a more inclusive future, they assert the worthiness of queer lives beyond dignity’s limits.

Order now from NYU Press or Amazon >>

 


 

Stephen M. Engel is a Professor of Politics at Bates College as well as Faculty Fellow in Student Affairs. He is also an Affiliated Scholar of the American Bar Foundation in Chicago. His research and teaching focus on American political development, constitutional law, and social movements, particularly LGBTQ+ socio-political and legal mobilization. In 2018, he was honored with the Ruth M. and Robert H. Kroepsch Award for Excellence in Teaching. Professor Engel is the author of four books, including The Unfinished Revolution: Social Movement Theory and the Gay and Lesbian Movement (Cambridge University Press 2001), American Politicians Confront the Courts: Opposition Politics and Changing Responses to Judicial Power (Cambridge University Press 2011), and Fragmented Citizens: The Changing Landscape of Gay and Lesbian Lives (NYU Press 2016).

Professor Engel is a JMC fellow.

Learn more about Stephen M. Engel >>

 


 

Facebook iconTwitter iconFollow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates about lectures, publications, podcasts, and events related to American political thought, United States history, and the Western political tradition!

 


 

Want to help the Jack Miller Center transform higher education? Donate today.