New Book: The Two Revolutions: A History of the Transgender Internet
All,
Since it’s now officially out, I wanted to share the announcement for my new book, The Two Revolutions: A History of the Transgender Internet, which might be of interest to folks on this list: https://nyupress.org/9781479818310/the-two-revolutions/. If you order it through the publisher, NYU Press, they have a 30% off discount code (NYUAU30).
Blurb: The Two Revolutions explores how the rise of the internet shaped transgender identity and activism from the 1980s to the present. Through extensive archival research and media archeology, Avery Dame-Griff reconstructs the manifold digital networks of transgender activists, cross-dressing computer hobbyists, and others interested in gender nonconformity who incited the second revolution of the title: the ascendance of “transgender” as an umbrella identity in the mid-1990s.
Dame-Griff argues that digital communications sparked significant momentum within what would become the transgender movement, but also further cemented existing power structures. Covering both a historical period that is largely neglected within the history of computing, and the poorly understood role of technology in queer and trans social movements, The Two Revolutions offers a new understanding of both revolutions—the internet’s early development and the structures of communication that would take us to today’s tipping point of trans visibility politics. Through a history of how trans people online exploited different digital infrastructures in the early days of the internet to build a community, The Two Revolutions tells a crucial part of trans history itself.
Please feel free to reach out if you’re thinking about teaching with it or interested in reviewing it! It’d be a great fit not just for WGSS or LGBTQ Studies courses, but also topics courses on political organizing, social movements, online communities, or web history.
And if you do use any part of it to teach, I encourage you to check out the Queer Digital History Project’s Exhibits (https://queerdigital.com/exhibits) and Teaching Guides (https://queerdigital.com/teaching), which offer resources and ideas for teaching about some of the topics covered in the book.
Best,
Avery Dame-Griff
avery.dame@gmail.com