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The University of Hawai‘i at Mänoa Center for Biographical Research
Brown Bag Biography
Thursday, January 22, 2009
12:00 noon to 1:15 p.m.
Henke Hall 325, 1800 East-West Road
Kathy Ferguson
Bush in Drag: Sarah Palin and Endless War
Sarah Palin’s vice presidential candidacy raises formidable questions for feminism. The question is not, “Was she a good candidate?” That question was resoundingly answered in the negative. The more important question is, “How could she be a candidate at all?” This inquiry focuses not on Palin per se, but on her relation to her enthusiastic constituency, asking how she “worked” for them and what her candidacy allowed her supporters to accomplish. Rather than dismiss Palin supporters as “idiots,” I want to investigate the desires and opportunities that have enabled her meteoric rise to power in the ˇ ˇ Republican Party. Using Slavoj Ziz ek’s fertile trio of concepts for analyzing ideology—jouissance, disidentification, and the sublime—I reflect on Palin’s relation to the women and men who support her, and ask about other possible directions for those political desires.
Kathy Ferguson, Professor of Political Science and Women’s Studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Mänoa, is the author of numerous works on feminist theory and on militarism in Hawai‘i. Her current projects include a book on Emma Goldman and another on the politics of homeschooling.
Contact the Center for Biographical Research at 956-3774 or biograph@hawaii.edu for more information.