LISA BUCHTER
The question at the core of my different research projects is: how do different actors try to fight against inequalities, discrimination, sexual and moral harassment, as well as other forms of oppression, by mobilizing, not just discourses, but material resources, such as law, organizational practices, governance, or symbolic policies of companies?
During my dissertation, I examined the way in which different activists (anti-discrimination non-profits, insider activists) try to substantiate the fight against discrimination in companies by transforming corporate approach to diversity policies, making them more substantial and less symbolic. I thus analyzed the role of LGBT networks in designing tools to fight against homophobia and transphobia in companies, the role of disability rights non-profits in transforming recruitment practices and raising awareness of different actors, trying to change their perspectives without eliciting backlash. I am also interested in the limits of these repertoires of action, as well as the unequal reception of these strategies depending on the cause defended (fighting ableism, homophobia, islamophobia, or racism). Today, I extend these research projects through collective research by exploring the activist and legal responses to different forms of harassment (mobilization of unions, activists, trials, media actions, etc.).
In my new research project, I analyze why and how different groups of individuals seek to reinvent alternative, cooperative, and participatory housing solutions. Through qualitative research in North America (USA, Canada), France, and soon in Europe, I explore the role of these collective housing projects in the fight against gentrification, rising rents, to foster solidarity, fight against oppression, whether for students, the elderly, or activists seeking to prefigure other ways of living.
Key words: discrimination and harassment, social movements theory, legal studies, law and society, housing cooperatives and solidarity
Link to her Google Scholar Profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2oYgs7MAAAAJ&hl=en
Her recent publications include:
Buchter, L. (2023a). Militer de l’intérieur: Les stratégies des réseaux professionnels LGBT. Travail, genre et sociétés, 49(1), 65–81. https://doi.org/10.3917/tgs.049.0065
Buchter, L. (2023b). Addressing racism and Islamophobia under the rules of colorblindness: When social movements engage in category work to reform the meanings of regulatory categories. Strategic Organization, 21(1), 149–185. https://doi.org/10.1177/14761270221142291
Lobbedez, E., & Buchter, L. (2023). The Strength of Pushback: Collective Identity In A Fragmented Mass Movement. Mobilization: An International Quarterly, 28(1), 61–88. https://doi.org/10.17813/1086-671X-28-1-61
Research project in English
Lisa Buchter has been taking part in the collaborative participatory action research project called RAPSoDIÂ (Recherche Action Participative, Solidarité et Innovation dans l’Âge: http://halage.info/les-echos-de-rapsodia/ ) since 2020. This participatory action research project was co-constructed by researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds (scholars in sociology, geography, urban planning, management, etc.) and by activists who were part of the collective Hal’Âge (http://halage.info/), a French non-profit bringing together activists and researchers to explore solution to bring about concrete innovation for ageing and for fostering solidarity through collective housing. The project explored how various collective housing arrangements (housing cooperative, participatory house, senior-only co-living, etc.) helped foster further solidarity and promoted more interdependency among neighbors, and thus in 6 different cities in France, as well as in Belgium, Germany, and the UK. The project enters its final stage (final report) and will be valued through joint publications in the upcoming years. Lisa has already started to work with activists in different venues, and namely the academic journal Nouvelle Questions Féministes:
Buchter, L., Guinchard, M., & Le Roux, A. (2022). Remettre les vieilles de la marge au centre avec une recherche participative. Nouvelles Questions Féministes, 41(1), 83–99. https://doi.org/10.3917/nqf.411.0083