>Let me put it this way. Reading Butler in my fifties was not like
>taking the Red Pill from Edmund Carpenter when I was twenty.
Fair enough. But Butler has been the Red Pill for a lot of people. That's been my main point through all this.
I don't think the Butler thread is the kind of pissing contest Chris describes. There's something else going on. Last night at the bookstore I saw a new book called _Judith Butler: From Norms to Politics_ Moya Lloyd (Author). This is a book that makes Butler more accessible. Such books do exist, contrary to claims made here that she can't be summarized because there is no there there.
The Lloyd book also has a good overview of the connections between Butler and political movements that Tahir has been asking for proof of. Gender Trouble is one of the foundational texts of Queer Studies and there are dots to connect between Queer Studies on campus and groups like ACT-UP and Lesbian Avengers on campus and off. The link below takes you to a photo Doug took of some Lesbian Avengers in action at the Seattle WTO protests.
Whatever you think about Lesbian Avengers et. al., it's an oversimplification to say that Butler (and others wrongheadedly thrown into the same pomo basket) are indicative of, or responsible for, a retreat from political action. And if Carpenter can set Chuck on a lifelong quest to learn more, why not Butler?
http://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/SeattleFriday.html