Book and special issue introductions by Salvador Vidal-Ortiz
Íconos, Revista de Ciencias Sociales es una publicación de Flacso-Ecuador. Fue fundada en 1997 co... more Íconos, Revista de Ciencias Sociales es una publicación de Flacso-Ecuador. Fue fundada en 1997 con el fin de estimular una reflexión crítica desde las ciencias sociales sobre temas de debate social, político, cultural y económico del país, la región andina y América Latina en general. La revista está dirigida a la comunidad científica y a quienes se interesen por conocer, ampliar y profundizar, desde perspectivas académicas, estos temas. Íconos se publica cuatrimestralmente en los meses de enero, mayo y septiembre.
The Sexuality of Migration examines the role that sexuality plays in processes of immigration and... more The Sexuality of Migration examines the role that sexuality plays in processes of immigration and identity formation from the standpoint of Mexican male immigrants to the United States who have sex with men. Viewing the immigrant experience from the standpoint of the "gay" immigrant raises critical questions regarding sexual identity formation in a transcultural setting and the linkages among human sexuality, state institutions, and global economic processes. As Lionel Cantú argues in this book, the concept and identities of "gay" do not translate perfectly into Spanish and the corresponding worldviews of the Mexican immigrants that he interviewed. Therefore, although he uses the terms "gay," "men who have sex with men," "queer," and "homosexual," he does this with the awareness that the translation is imperfect. Cantú puts these terms in quotation marks or brackets to signify their complexity and to re ect this tension, a practice that also highlights his understanding that sexuality is shifting and, therefore, changes over time and across space.
Articles/Book Chapters by Salvador Vidal-Ortiz
Sex Education, 2022
This article derives from a five-year collaborative engagement in which we intermittently visited... more This article derives from a five-year collaborative engagement in which we intermittently visited Mocha Celis, a community-based high school programme in Buenos Aires. We seek to illustrate how, by centring travesti/trans experiences, some of Mocha Celis's practices align with Quinlivan's notion of an 'epidemic of love'. By doing this, we hope to extend Quinlivan's focus on sexualities education by showing the impact centring travesti people as part of this work may have, not only for travesti/trans individuals, but also for the overall educational project. Quinlivan's 'epidemic of love' and her engagement with Muñoz's queer utopias help us extend the idea of unruly sexualities education research-from a transformative space emergent from the hatred and dismissal faced by travestis into a school into a place of love and acceptance through difference. Quinlivan's work helps us in the quest to identify the ever present, even if limited, spaces in which transformative change may occur.
Bulletin of Latin American Research , 2021
This article focuses on what we call, following Argentinean thinker and activist Lohana Berkins, ... more This article focuses on what we call, following Argentinean thinker and activist Lohana Berkins, travar el saber. Travar el saber is travesti theorising; rooted in Berkins's conceptualisation of travesti as a political identity, it works to understand, question, and transform the tenets and practices that uphold and reproduce exclusionary dynamics. Our analysis draws on efforts taking place at the Bachillerato Popular Travesti y Trans Mocha Celis, the first high school created to meet the needs of travesti and trans students in Buenos Aires. The school seeks to create a travesti-centred transformative educational framework and praxis.
Sociological Forum, 2020
In this article, we argue for "a queer sociology" that centers race and processes of racializatio... more In this article, we argue for "a queer sociology" that centers race and processes of racialization, while naming and decentering Whiteness. "A queer sociology" is a field that foregrounds relations of power, particularly: race, class, empire, gender and gender identity, and sexuality, and that does not use queer in a reductionist way (or merely in reference to LGBT identity-based projects). We question the uses of queer theory in sociology and show how previous iterations miss/ignore multiple genealogies of the field, like Black feminist thought, women of color feminisms, and the queer of color critique. "A queer sociology" centers power relations beyond gender and sexuality, recognizing the invisible and overarching work of Whiteness and the US (as unnamed centers of analyses) in structuring not only the sociology of sexualities, but sociological thinking overall. We invite sociology to engage with our theorization of "a queer sociology" as a way to transform our categories of analysis and how we conceive of power.
Companion to Women's and Gender Studies, 2020
Race and Contention in the 21st Century, 2016
Latino Studies, 2018
The term "Latinx" has become a site of contention, like "Latino" once was. Our goal is to propose... more The term "Latinx" has become a site of contention, like "Latino" once was. Our goal is to propose an articulation of Latina/o/x populations through the term Latinx as a site of possibilities, while clarifying its potential use and the reasoning behind it. Rather than seeing the use of Latinx as a trend, or a rupture, in linguistic usage, we see its use as a continuity of internal shifting group dynamics and disciplinary debates. Complicating the argument that the term Latinx is an imperial-ist imposition on the Spanish language is possible by reclaiming the "x" history of (racial and ethnic) resistance as a marker of nonwhiteness (for example, in Xicana feminism), while turning to the "x" usage by Latin American and Spanish-speaking activists. Latinx foregrounds tensions among self-naming practices and terms that encompass all members of a diverse and complex ethnoracial group: Latinx acts as a new frame of inclusion, while also posing a challenge for those used to having androcentric terms serve as collective representational proxies.
This qualitative study examined sex work among internally displaced male and transgender female s... more This qualitative study examined sex work among internally displaced male and transgender female sex workers in Bogotá, Colombia. Internal displacement has occurred in Colombia as a result of decades of conflict among armed groups and has created large-scale migration from rural to urban areas. Informed by the polymorphous model of sex work, which posits that contextual conditions shape the experience of sex work, we examined three main research questions. The first dealt with how internal displacement was related to the initiation of sex work; the second concerned the effect of agency on sex worker satisfaction; andthe third examined how sex work in this context was related to HIV and other risks. Life history interviews were conducted with 26 displaced individuals who had done sex work: 14 were men who have sex with men and 12were transgender women(natal males). Findings revealedthat many participants began doing sex work in the period immediately after displacement, because of a lack of money, housing, and social support. HIV risk was greater during this time due to limited knowledge of HIV and inexperience negotiating safer sex with clients. Other findings indicated that sex workers who exerted more control and choice in the circumstances of their work reported greater satisfaction. In addition, we found that although many sex workers insisted on condom use with clients , several noted that they would sometimes have unprotected sex for additional money. Specific characteristics affecting the experience of sex work among the transgender women were also discussed.
Existing academic analyses of Santería portray it either as homophobic because of its hierarchica... more Existing academic analyses of Santería portray it either as homophobic because of its hierarchical restrictions, or as the ultimate liberatory space for 'sexual minorities'. Meanwhile, complicated uses of homophobia circulate in Santería in ways often overlooked because of these aforementioned portrayals. This article examines constructions of homophobia as rooted in Whiteness/gayness, and how communities of color reproduce homophobia narratives. It then analyzes the charges of homophobia in relation to the everyday experiences and views among a group of US Santeros -many of whom are US ethnoracial minorities. I posit that national identity and ethno-racial background are key elements used by Santería practitioners in charging each other with homophobia. This argument has implications for the study of Santería spaces of worship, ethnic and racial studies, and sexualities more broadly.
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Book and special issue introductions by Salvador Vidal-Ortiz
Articles/Book Chapters by Salvador Vidal-Ortiz
This illuminating book delves into the interrelation of race and sexuality as inseparable elements of our identities and social lives. The authors approach the study of race and sexuality through an interdisciplinary lens, focusing on power, social arrangements and hierarchies, and the production of social difference. Through their analysis, the authors map the historical, discursive, and structural manifestations of race and sexuality, noting the everyday effects that the intersections of these categories have on people's lived experiences. With both US-based and transnational cases, this book presents an empirical grounding for understanding how race and sexuality are mutually constitutive categories.
Providing a comprehensive overview of racialized sexualities, Race and Sexuality is an essential text for any advanced course on race, sexuality, and intersectionality.