Examination of the Approach of Jeffrey Weeks - Essay Example

Jeffrey Weeks: A Detailed Study and Examination of his Approach, his Contribution to Theory Building, and his Significance Jeffrey Weeks: ADetailed Study and Examination of his Approach, his Contribution to Theory Building, and his Significance Jeffrey Weeks is a historian and sociologist, one who specializes in the work of sexuality, and as well he is a gay activist. Jeffrey Weeks is the author of various different books, including Sexuality and its Discontents, Sex, Politics and Society, and Coming Out. He is well known worldwide for his work, and he also presently is the Executive Dean of Arts and Human Sciences at London South Bank University, and he has filled this position since August 1, 2003. Weeks has had an incredible significance in regards to many different issues, and particularly so in regards to his approach and his contribution to theory building. Jeffrey Weeks has been a well known man for quite some time, and the beginning of this notoriety truly began once his literary works began to come out, as they were more open and more revealing than most others had ever been. His work discusses primarily the issues of homosexuality, however at the same time it discusses much more than that, as he is able to discuss such matters as homosexual identity, finding homosexual identity, the history of homosexual identity, homosexuality in politics, homosexuality and its influence on the world, and much more. He has been both praised and criticized for his work, but overall his work is taken on a most positive note, as it has not only explained and universalized many of the most important issues that are evident in the present day world, but as well it has led to the onset of not only present but future forms of research and contemplation in the areas of his work. In order to better understand Weeks, and in particular that of his contributions and his significance to the world overall, we must do several things. First, we must discuss more about Weeks and his life in general, and as well we must then discuss his relevance and how his approach and his contribution to theory building have been influential in general. By doing this we will be able to gain a much more informed and knowledgeable understanding on this entire matter overall, and we will thus be able to make examined and detailed conclusions in regards to this. This is what will be dissertated in the following. Jeffery Weeks was born in Rhondda, Wales in 1945, and he was educated at both the University College in London and the University of Kent at Canterbury. In regards to his work he actually basically began as a lecturer in sociology at the University of Kent, and in the year 1980 he became the Simon Senior Fellow at the University of Manchester. He was also professor of social relations at Bristol Polytechnic, continuing his work on throughout this time. Weeks is considered as being "among the academics in the early period of gay men's studies in Britain emerging from the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) which he joined in 1970 and the Gay Left Collective of which he was a founder member. He began by chronicling the development of homosexual politics from the late nineteenth century to the gay liberation movement in Coming Out, (1977)" (The Knitting Circle, 2002). Following his work as a professor at Bristol Polytechnic, he then became Professor of Sociology at South Bank University in the year 1994, and the he was Head of School of Education, Politics and Social Science from 1995-1998, and finally he became Dean of Humanities and Social Science in August, 1998. He spent most of the beginning of his education at select places, as he would stay in one location and then concentrate his work there, and move on once he felt the time was right. Thus he did not scatter from place to place, but rather, as he worked, and as his work became more and more accepted and noted, he basically made his way up the ladder, until he reached where he is today, which he has been at for several years now. Weeks is a man who is incredibly respected for not only the man that he is but also for the work that he has done, as not only has it helped out in many different regards, but as well - and perhaps even more importantly - it has enabled the onset of various solutions, which are only going to become even more positive in the near future. His work as a sociologist has included many profound discoveries and verbal inputs, and Weeks is truly different than any other in his field. He has consistently been overt and outspoken in regards to his views and in regards to the work that he is involved in, and this has truly worked out for the positive, not only for Weeks himself but as well for the field of homosexuality in politics and other homosexual issues as well, particularly in regards to politics, which is one of the most impressive factors, considering that the issues of homosexuality and politics are two issues which have been rather difficult to correlate together in the past. One of Weeks' strongest arguments is in regards to the fact of how he believes that sexual identities are both historically invented and essential in day-to-day life, and he believes that "They are constructed in a traceable history, but are the crucial means through which we negotiate the hazards of contemporary lives. They are necessary fictions" (Weeks, 1991). One of Weeks' most popularized works, Coming Out, is truly considered as being one of the most influential and significant literary pieces in regards to the advancement in the historiography of homosexuality. "A monographic study of homosexual politics in Great Britain over the last 100 years, it attempts to construct a theoretical framework for understanding gay politics and gay identity. Weeks sharply distinguishes homosexual behavior, which is universal, from homosexual identity, which is historically specific" (D'Emilio, 2002). This book, along with his others, is considered as being a major contribution towards the uncovering of a homosexual past, and with one of his main arguments being that gay identity is historically specific, he has truly put a new and enlightening twist on the issue of gay identity overall, and his work has been incredibly praised for this. After all, his arguments and ideals have set the terms for further exploration into gay history, and thus are absolutely credible and as well, his analysis of the different stands of homosexual politics should also serve as a model for these future efforts. Jeffrey Weeks has an incredible significance the world over, not only for his obvious dedication and his unwavering confidence and devotion to figuring out and understanding gay identity, particularly so in regards to homosexual politics, and he has without a doubt been one of the largest contributors ever in regards to this matter. All of Weeks' work has been incredibly successful, in that they all have made a contribution to gay history in general as well as in regards to many various other subjects, and all of his work has also inspired equally careful and comprehensive histories of gay communities in other nations. It is thus incredibly easy to see the greatness of his significance, not only to the gay community but to the world itself, as he has had one of the most profound and universal points of view that has ever been seen. Especially in regards to his book Coming Out, Weeks has more then proved just how validated his stance and his ideals are, and all of his arguments and ideas are backed by absolutely credible proof and strong opinions. "To sum up, Coming Out is, at its best, a straightforward narrative of the trials and successes of homosexual men and women over the past 100 years or so" (Licata & Peterson, 1981). In regards to his actual research interests, he has researched and published widely in three distinct areas in particular, and one of these three issues, the one that has been the major focus of his work since as far back as the year 1970, is that of the history and social organization of sexuality and intimate life. Most of his books have been subjected around this issue in particular, and he has also written numerous different articles and papers in regards to this matter specifically as well. It is this subject out of the three major ones that he is particularly interested in that he feels most devoted and most strongly for, and as Weeks himself has stated, "I have been particularly concerned with exploring the relationship between historical and sociological approaches in trying to understand the emergence of historically defined sexual categories. The development of distinctive of lesbian and gay identities has been the force of several books and various articles. I have also explored the changing forms of social regulation of sexuality, the ideological debates on sexual behavior, and the social policy implications of the recent rethinking of sexual values" (Weeks, 2006). The second most major research interest area is in regards to the subject of social and political theory, and he has completed matters in this regards as far back as to his beginning works, and as well he has written several articles on recent social theory in particular. Lastly, the third most major research interest area of his is research resources and organization, and in particular in regards to this area of research, he has worked on several different publicly funded projects concerned with that of the supporting infrastructure for historical and social science research, and as well he has extended this specific experience to an interest in regards to the factors that both promote and hinder research activities. From this review we can conclude many different things, namely as to how great Weeks' contribution to theory building and significance is overall, and as well how new and profound his approach has really always been. Weeks has truly brought an entirely new outlook to such issues as gay identity and homosexuality in politics, and the greatness of his work has been so much that is has significantly influenced the work of others, and as well has initiated a dramatic increase in regards to the research and the work that is now - and will be as well in the future - taken on in regards to these such issues. Weeks has truly been able to make compelling and incisive reflections in regards to various different issues, particularly of course towards the issue of homosexuality, and as well on the need for a democratizing sexual ethics for our time. He has involved respect, care, consideration, responsibility, and love throughout all of his work, and has never been demeaning or critical in any way, besides to point out positive issues and reinforcements. Working from a rather radical humanist perspective - a term that Weeks actually coined for himself - he looks deeply at such issues as sexual mores in the confusing times of today, and this includes several different issues in particular, such as AIDS and the challenges of love and death, the politics of diversity, and even more controversial topics such as sadomasochism, rape, and abortion rights. Jeffrey Weeks is considered as being incredibly significant for all of this, and perhaps most importantly, because of how he has made homosexuality a universal issue, and how he has allowed issues having to do with homosexuality open enough to be able to discuss, even in regards to something as strict and severe as politics. He has made his point of view incredibly clear and overt in regards to all of these issues, and although of course there are some critics who do not believe that he has put enough thought into his work, for the most part he is praised and positively reviewed for his work in each area that he discusses in his work; his work is most significant in how it addresses issues that need to be spoken openly about and which truly have never gotten the chance to be, and in how his work has influenced the process of research in this regards, particularly so in regards to the future research and work that will now be completed in these areas. References D'Emilio, J. (2002). Jeffrey Weeks. Retrieved March 2, 2007, from http://www.knittingcircle.org.uk/sociology.html#Jeffrey%20Weeks2 The Knitting Circle. (2002). Jeffrey Weeks. Retrieved March 2, 2007, from http://www.knittingcircle.org.uk/jeffreyweeks.html Licata, S. J. & Peterson, R. P. (1981). Historical Perspectives on Homosexuality. New York: The Haworth Press. Weeks, J. (1977). Coming Out: Homosexual Politics in Britain, From the Nineteenth Century to the Present. Quartet Books, ISBN: 0704331756. Weeks, J. (1981). Sex, Politics and Society: The Regulation of Sexuality Since 1800. SBU Library Main Bookstock, ISBN: 0582483344. Weeks, J. (1985). Sexuality and its Discontents: Meanings, Myths and Modern Sexualities. Routledge and Kegan Paul, ISBN: 0710205643. Weeks, J. (1986). Sexuality. Ellis Horwood/Routledge, ISBN: 0853128790. Weeks, J. (1991). Against Nature: Essays on History, Sexuality and Identity. Rivers Oram, ISBN: 1854890042. Weeks, J. & Holland, J. (1996). Sexual Cultures: Communities, Values and Intimacy. Macmillan Press Limited, ISBN: 10-333-65003-4. Weeks, J. (2006). Jeffrey Weeks. Retrieved March 2, 2007, from http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/ahs/staff/jeffreyweeks.shtml Read More