Author
Werner, Margaret MacGregorIssue Date
2011Advisor
Miller, Thomas P.
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The University of Arizona.Rights
Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.Abstract
In this dissertation I use rhetorical analysis and draw on articulation theory, primarily as it is conceived by Stuart Hall, to analyze the ways that LGBT social movements constitute and strategically deploy macro-level identities. This research focuses on the ways that movement identities--from the gay liberation of Stonewall through the current movements for marriage and military service--are rhetorically constructed. By tracking national LGBT social-movement organizations through such dynamic changes, my analyses reveal the ways that rearticulating the identity of a social movement can help groups change strategies and identifications when activist practices are failing. This scholarship adds to existing research on the ways that social movements constitute and reconstitute their shared sense of identity in the midst of evolving social contexts and also suggests some ways that multimodal rhetorics shape the development of movements.Type
Electronic Dissertationtext
Degree Name
Ph.D.Degree Level
doctoralDegree Program
Graduate CollegeEnglish