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Discursive Placemaking Practices and White Christian Nationalism: Analyzing LGBTQIA+ Censorship Debates in a Southern, Small Town Library

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Title: Discursive Placemaking Practices and White Christian Nationalism: Analyzing LGBTQIA+ Censorship Debates in a Southern, Small Town Library
Language: English
Authors: Ryan Schey, Rebekah J. Adams
Source: Critical Education. 2026 17(1):1-18.
Availability: Institute for Critical Education Studies. 2125 Main Mall, EDCP, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4 Canada. Tel: 604-822-2830; Web site: https://ices.library.ubc.ca/index.php/criticaled/
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 19
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: LGBTQ People, Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, Christianity, Whites, Minority Groups, Books, Censorship, Nationalism, Fear, Social Bias, Ideology, Libraries, Power Structure, Governing Boards
ISSN: 1920-4175
Abstract: This article examines a public library board meeting in a small Southern U.S. town with the goal of understanding local discourses about sexual and gender diversity amid increased challenges to LGBTQIA+ and BIPoC-themed books. Drawing on theories intertwining place, power, and identity, we analyze how arguments for and against censoring LGBTQIA+ materials are insidiously imbued with discursive practices part of, but not exclusive to, white Christian nationalism. Our analysis identifies three key discursive placemaking practices of white Christian nationalism that community members used: instilling fear, enforcing exclusions, and narrating temporalities (pasts, presents, and futures). Findings reveal that speakers--despite opposing ideological positions about LGBTQIA+ life--constructed a vision of their community influenced by whiteness and Christian nationalist ideologies. This analysis offers new pathways for understanding how public spaces become sites of contestation where multiple trajectories of power and identity converge, with implications for advocacy toward more inclusive and just library spaces.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1499669
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
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  Data: Discursive Placemaking Practices and White Christian Nationalism: Analyzing LGBTQIA+ Censorship Debates in a Southern, Small Town Library
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  Data: Institute for Critical Education Studies. 2125 Main Mall, EDCP, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4 Canada. Tel: 604-822-2830; Web site: https://ices.library.ubc.ca/index.php/criticaled/
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  Data: This article examines a public library board meeting in a small Southern U.S. town with the goal of understanding local discourses about sexual and gender diversity amid increased challenges to LGBTQIA+ and BIPoC-themed books. Drawing on theories intertwining place, power, and identity, we analyze how arguments for and against censoring LGBTQIA+ materials are insidiously imbued with discursive practices part of, but not exclusive to, white Christian nationalism. Our analysis identifies three key discursive placemaking practices of white Christian nationalism that community members used: instilling fear, enforcing exclusions, and narrating temporalities (pasts, presents, and futures). Findings reveal that speakers--despite opposing ideological positions about LGBTQIA+ life--constructed a vision of their community influenced by whiteness and Christian nationalist ideologies. This analysis offers new pathways for understanding how public spaces become sites of contestation where multiple trajectories of power and identity converge, with implications for advocacy toward more inclusive and just library spaces.
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      – Text: English
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        PageCount: 19
        StartPage: 1
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: LGBTQ People
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Gender Identity
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Sexual Orientation
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      – SubjectFull: Christianity
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      – SubjectFull: Whites
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      – SubjectFull: Minority Groups
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      – SubjectFull: Books
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      – SubjectFull: Censorship
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Nationalism
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Fear
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social Bias
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      – SubjectFull: Ideology
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      – SubjectFull: Libraries
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      – SubjectFull: Power Structure
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      – SubjectFull: Governing Boards
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: Discursive Placemaking Practices and White Christian Nationalism: Analyzing LGBTQIA+ Censorship Debates in a Southern, Small Town Library
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