Deborah Gould

Research Interests

Political emotion; social movements and contentious politics; classical and contemporary social theory; sexualities; lesbian/gay/queer studies; feminist and queer theory; affect studies

Biography, Education and Training

Ph.D. in Political Science, University of Chicago

MA in Political Science, University of Chicago

BA in Government, Wesleyan University

Title Associate Professor,

Director of Graduate Studies

Division Social Sciences Division

Department Sociology Department

Affiliations History of Consciousness Department,

Feminist Studies Department,

Politics Department

Phone 831-459-5720

Email dbgould@ucsc.edu

Office 202 College Eight

Office Hours Wednesdays 2:00 -4:00 and by appointment

Campus Mail Stop College Eight Faculty Services

Mail 1156 High Street

Santa Cruz, CA

95064

USA

In the late 1980s, after a decade spent engaged in more routine interest-group politics, thousands of lesbians and gay men responded to the AIDS crisis by defiantly and dramatically taking to the streets. But by the early 1990s, the organization they founded, ACT UP, was no more - even as the AIDS epidemic raged on. Weaving together interviews with activists, extensive research, and reflections on the author's time as a member of the organization, "Moving Politics" is the first book to chronicle the rise and fall of ACT UP, highlighting a key factor in its trajectory: emotion. Surprisingly overlooked by many scholars of social movements, emotion, Gould argues, plays a fundamental role in political activism. From anger to hope, pride to shame, and solidarity to despair, feelings played a significant part in ACT UP's provocative style of protest, which included raucous demonstrations, die-ins, and other kinds of street theater. Detailing the movement's public triumphs and private setbacks, "Moving Politics" is the definitive account of ACT UP's origin, development, and decline as well as a searching look at the role of emotion in contentious politics.