Rape and Resistance: Understanding the Complexities of Sexual Violation

281 Pages·2018·2.791 MB·English

by  Linda Martín Alcoff

Rape and Resistance
to those who know
Rape and Resistance
Understanding the Complexities
of Sexual Violation
Linda Martín Alcoff
polity
Copyright © Linda Martín Alcoff 2018
The right of Linda Martín Alcoff to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted
in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in 2018 by Polity Press
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ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-9191-6
ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-9192-3 (pb)
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Contents
Acknowledgments vi
Introduction: Rape after Foucault 1
1 Global Resistance: A New Agenda for Theory 23
2 The Thorny Question of Experience 56
3 Norming Sexual Practices 76
4 Sexual Subjectivity 110
5 Decolonizing Terms 148
6 Speaking “as” (with Laura Gray-Rosendale) 176
7 The Problem of Speaking for Myself 203
Conclusion: Standing in the Intersection 227
Notes 241
References 244
Index 259
v
Acknowledgments
I have been fortunate to participate in numerous support groups for sur-
vivors over the years, in Providence, Kalamazoo, and Syracuse. Some of
these were organized formally by social service organizations and some
simply by activists. Here I was able to witness as well as take part in the
collective and tentative process of developing an understanding. The mem-
ories of our many conversations have stayed with me for years. I have given
portions of the arguments of this book at numerous conferences, colleges,
and universities, in several countries around the world, always with private
conversations afterward with members of the audience. I want to express
my thanks to all of those who have shared their stories and their analyses
with me.
I have also discussed these topics with numerous colleagues and friends
over the years to my great benefit, including especially Ann Cahill, Laura
Gray-Rosendale, Raja Halwani, Jamie Lindsay, Ingeborg Majer-O’Sickey,
Sarah Clark Miller, Robert Praeger, and Steven Seidman.
Finally, I owe a special debt to the following people: to my family for
their million acts of support and kindness; to Laura Gray-Rosendale for
venturing to collaborate on this difficult topic with me many years ago;
and to Amber Chiacchieri for working incredibly hard as my research
assistant and also giving me sound feedback on many theoretical points. I
want to also thank Sarah Gokhale for preparing the excellent index, and
Sam Alcoff and Anna Gold for their helpful ideas for the cover design.
Text Acknowledgments
Chapter 2, “The Thorny Question of Experience,” is largely based on the
essay “Sexual Violations and the Question of Experience.” Copyright ©
New Literary History, The University of Virginia. This article first appeared
in New Literary History Volume 45, Issue 3 (Summer 2014), pages 445–62.
Chapter 3, “Norming Sexual Practices,” draws in part from “Dangerous
vi
Acknowledgments vii
Pleasures: Foucault and the Politics of Pedophilia,” in Feminist Interpreta-
tions of Michel Foucault, edited by Susan J. Hekman (University Park: Penn-
sylvania University Press, 1996), pages 99–136. Copyright © The
Pennsylvania State University. Chapter 5, “Decolonizing Terms,” is largely
based on “Discourses of Sexual Violence in a Global Framework. Copy-
right © Philosophical Topics. This article first appeared in Philosophical Topics
Volume 37, Issue 2 (Fall 2009), pages 123–40. A much earlier version of
Chapter 6, “Speaking ‘as’,” appeared, co-authored with Laura Gray (now
Laura Gray-Rosendale), as “Survivor Discourse: Transgression or Recu-
peration?” Copyright © SIGNS. This article first appeared in SIGNS Volume
18, Issue 2 (Winter 1993), pages 260–90.