Article Review 1- Sarah Reasoner

Sarah Reasoner

Professor Currans

WGST 202H

T- Th 12:30- 1:45

10/07/14

Article Review 1

Mananzala, R., & Spade, D. (2008). “The Nonprofit Industrial Complex and Trans Resistance”. Sexuality Research & Social Policy, 5(1), 53-71.

In “The Nonprofit Industrial Complex and Trans Resistance,” Rickke Mananzala and Dean Spade tackle analysis of the Transgender Movement in a unique way. Their goal is to look at current examples of exemplary trans- rights organizations as well as past mistakes made by other social movements intended to help the Trans-rights movement become politically successful. Specifically, they argue that exploring critical analysis of the non- profit industrial complex and applying the results of this analysis to past mistakes of social movements and current successes of the trans- rights movement (while the trans-rights movement is still growing) will help those involved in the movement again insight about framing their effort in a way that will lead to the movement’s ultimate victory.

First, Mananzala and Spade define what the non- profit industrial complex is in order to allow readers to see how this theory relates to social movements like the trans-rights movement. They use a definition from Dylan Rodriguez which says the non- profit industrial complex is, “a set of symbiotic relationships that link together political and financial technologies of state and owning- class proctorship and surveillance over public political intercourse, including and especially emergent progressive and leftist social movements, since about the mid- 1970s” (56). The non- profit industrial complex explains how government, upper- class, and non- profit organizations (such as ones involved in the trans- rights movement) interact in ways that end up harming social movements. Mananzala and Spade explain that, “The non- profit industrial complex ultimately maintains politics and institutions of oppression, keeping a lid on radical political work while pushing organizations to provide basic services that quell unrest” (56). In this way, the non- profit industrial complex acts as a mask for important social issues, making the issue look less scary and allowing concerned citizens to see some sort of progress being made when there is really a lot more work to be done.  Already, there is an obvious problem apparent with the current model of non- profit organizations because of this, but Mananzala and Spade magnify specific criticisms using examples from the gay and lesbian rights movements to highlight how non- profit organizations involved with social movements can become less productive because of this non- profit industrial complex.

Mananzala and Spade critically analyze the non- profit industrial complex to further highlight the danger it poses to growing social movements. For instance, one criticism they talk about involves how the current nonprofit model separates service organizations from political organizations. This makes it so that communities affected most by oppression (like impoverished communities) are able to get basic services, but do not have access to the resources from political organizations that they would need to get to the root of their oppression and fight for change (57). This creates an environment where non- profit organizations are unable to effectively work together to help fight underlying problems and combat oppression in a political way that will permanently eliminate it. Another criticism the authors point out is that non- profit organizations are often funded by corporations or ‘the elite’ (57). This negatively affects non- profit organizations in many ways. One way is because corporations are very selective about which non- profit organizations they choose to fund, and they tend to fund the less radical organizations. As a result, the more radical groups are slowly cut out of social movements and eventually are unable to remain in operation.  Furthermore, the way non-profit organizations are funded often prevents them from staying open for the long term. In order to emphasize the reality of this analysis, Mananzala and Spade look at the gay and lesbian rights movements to show how the non-profit industrial complex can turn a viable social justice movement into a single-issue movement. They explain how many have criticized the non-profit organizations involved in the gay and lesbian rights movement for how they receive funding from large corporations with questionable business practices, turning the gay rights movement from being about social justice to only being concerned with rights for middle class, white, homosexuals (60). Unfortunately, there is an immense pressure put on non- profit organizations by their need to get funds from large corporations (a key relationship in the non- profit industrial complex).  Overall, Mananzala and Spade summarize this point with saying that within gay and lesbian rights organizations, “Lack of community accountability, elitism, concentration of wealth and resources in the usual places, and exploitative labor practices are norms (…), and so create and maintain a disappointing political agenda that fails to support meaningful and widespread resistance to oppressive institutions,” (60).   Fortunately, Mananzala and Spade believe that by looking at these examples, there is still hope for the trans- rights movement. In their article, they identify plenty of instances there the trans- rights movement is stepping away from the constriction of the non-profit industrial complex.

Near the end of this article, many positive examples of the trans-rights movement are provided, but The Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SLPR), a law firm that provides free legal help to trans-individuals, is a main example, is demonstrated as a great example of an organization who has overcome the problems brought about by the non-profit industrial complex. The authors talk about a number of ways that organization accomplishes this. For instance, it gives people basic services and access to ways they can become politically active, it combats the problems caused by corporate funding by relying on grassroots funding (which also helps to get communities involved), and it’s diverse staff reflects a variety of interests, which helps to promote variety and acceptance. The staff of the organization reflects its goals of promoting diversity and acceptance. By combining this positive example with the examples of past mistakes made by other social movements, the authors of this article show what the trans- rights movement needs to do to broaden and be successful, helping it to accomplish its goals of gaining social equality for everyone.

“The Nonprofit Industrial Complex and Trans Resistance” relates to my blog topic, the Transgender Movement, by both emphasizing a particular positive organization involved in the Transgender Movement and providing insight about how to create more of these positive organizations in the future. This contributes both constructive criticism and positive examples of the transgender movement and frames the trans- rights movement in a unique way. The importance of the efforts and examples emphasized in this article can be seen by looking at this article through the lens of Leslie Feinberg’s article “We Are All Works in Progress.” In this, Feinberg talks about the various sources of oppression in society.  Specifically, sie identifies oppression as coming from the legal system, from peers, and from the health care system. In “The Nonprofit Industrial Complex and Trans Resistance,” the non- profit industrial complex fits into two of these systems of oppression identified by Feinberg (influencing the legal workings of non-profit organizations, how the movements work in the social sphere). For instance, this article details how more radical organizations within a social movement are systematically eliminated from the movement because of the non- profit industrial complex, which limits the progress that a movement can make. Mananzala, Spade, and Feinberg all emphasize that systems of oppression can often be disguised as progress or just as ‘how things are’ (such as the idea that a person can only be male or female), but that it is important to critically look at these hidden systems of oppression to eliminate them so that social movements can accomplish their goals. However, this is not always an easy thing to do. Lack of information, education, and the social pressure to conform often leads people to not even understand to what extent a particular system of oppression restricts society.  Although this was a challenging article to read and summarize, by reviewing this it I have learned that opening oneself up to new ideas and concepts, even ones that are totally foreign, can social movements like the LGBT movement to broaden in order to create a better world for everyone by becoming interested in overall social justice of everyone and applying their efforts to create change to every part of society.