Suchergebnisse

The politics of gay and transgender visibility and representation at the Eurovision Song Contest, an annual televised popular music festival presented to viewers as a contest between European nations, show that processes of interest to Queer International Relations do not just involve states or even international institutions; national and transnational popular geopolitics over 'LGBT rights' and 'Europeanness' equally constitute the understandings of 'the international' with which Queer IR is concerned. Building on Cynthia Weber's reading the persona of the 2014 Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst with 'queer intellectual curiosity', this paper demonstrates that Eurovision shifted from, in the late 1990s, an emerging site of gay and trans visibility to, by 2008–14, part of a larger discursive circuit taking in international mega-events like the Olympics, international human-rights advocacy, Europe/Russia relations, and the politics of state homophobia and transphobia. Contest organisers thus had to take positions – ranging from detachment to celebration – about 'LGBT' politics in host states and the Eurovision region. The construction of spatio-temporal hierarchies around attitudes to LGBT rights, however, revealed exclusions that corroborate other critical arguments on the reconfiguration of national and European identities around 'LGBT equality'.

What novel political spaces emerge at the intersections of global HIV/AIDS interventions and LGBT rights movements? As discrimination and stigma become the targets of global health initiatives, how do communities affected by HIV/AIDS position themselves towards notions of rights? And what is the social and political afterlife of rights-based initiatives after they are defunded or cease to exist? These are the central research questions posed in the dissertation. To address them, I conducted six months of preliminary fieldwork and fifteen months of ethnographic fieldwork in 2012-2015 among gay and transgender communities in the upper Amazonian state of San Martín in Peru. Through data collection techniques that included participant observation and interviews, I examined the social and political effects of a rights-based HIV/AIDS intervention for gay and transgender communities in the region. Among these communities, I found the peche concept to be particularly meaningful. The peche referred to the small gifts that gay and transgender people exchanged for the company, affection, and sex with heterosexual men. While sometimes construed as either a risky sexual practice in HIV/AIDS-related research or considered disempowering by LGBT activists, I found that the peche had historical depth and social extension. I problematize these narratives by developing the concept of peche politics to analyze the political practices that emerged in San Martín among the communities I studied. I situate these practices, such as addressing discrimination and homophobia through formal grievances or recounting and transmitting stories of the internal armed conflict, at the confluence of local myths about sexuality, national histories of violence and human rights, and global health initiatives. In my conclusion, I rethink the local, national, and global scales of this research and propose a hemispheric imaginary to open new analytical possibilities, especially in the moments when global structures of HIV/AIDS initiatives and LGBT rights recede.

This dissertation examines the history and operations of niche LGBT media distribution companies in the past three decades. Since the rise of gay and lesbian film festivals in the 1970s, several distribution companies specifically devoted to LGBT media have made over a thousand titles available in theaters, on home video, or via digital streaming. By focusing on five companies (Ariztical Entertainment, Here Media, Strand Releasing, TLA Entertainment, and Wolfe Video), my research breaks new ground as a large-scale analysis of a sector of media largely unexplored by queer media studies. The texts produced by LGBT distributors are often perceived as conventional and uninteresting formally and politically. However, my project takes these "bad objects" seriously, recognizing their economic, cultural, and historical significance for a minority group and their larger impact on mainstream understandings of LGBT identity and politics. Partly an industrial history, this project deprioritizes textual and representational analysis of the niche media itself, attending instead to the industrial and discursive circumstances surrounding these media and treating distribution as a collection of meaning-making practices revealing insights impossible through textual analysis alone. Each chapter demonstrates how LGBT texts circulate and activate differently in different contexts, focusing on the contingency of a text's categorization as LGBT, the signification of business practices with liberal LGBT politics, and the complexity of evaluating LGBT media based on differing expectations about what LGBT media should do and what LGBT viewers need. This project provides an untold history of a minority group's cultural production, and in doing so raises larger questions about LGBT media's contemporary and future relationship to categorization, identity, politics, economics, value, and affect.

peer-reviewed ; The last decade has seen significant change in LGBT-Q politics in many (neo)liberal democracies. In Ireland, Civil Partnership (CP) was signed into law in 2010. While LGBT-Q advocacy groups had been divided over the terms of CP, they presented a united front in favour of marriage and in May 2015, Ireland became the first country in the world to vote in favour of same-sex marriage in a constitutional referendum. This article begins from a personal moment as I sat in a television audience where a polarized debate – mainstream 'progressive' Left in favour of marriage equality versus 'conservative' religious Right against – ensued. It draws on interviews with five advocates in LGBT-Q politics and an analysis of print media related to CP and marriage from January 2010 until January 2014. This article inquires into the discourses and decision-making as CP and marriage emerged. It is anchored by the work of Michel Foucault, Judith Butler and others, focusing on the concepts of discourse, truth, normalization and equality. I demonstrate how the advocates adopted a politics of pragmatism and employed integrative, assimilationist strategies in line with consensus politics. I show how these approaches played their part in foreclosing radical sexual politics or broader kinship discussions. The article asserts that the advocates were motivated by how CP/marriage had the potential to achieve 'real life', large-scale cultural change through normalization. However, I demonstrate how mobilizing a politics of change based on normalization and sameness simultaneously (re)produces an 'acceptable' sexual citizen and reassigns 'others' as peripheral. ; ACCEPTED ; peer-reviewed

Social movement theories are often built on Western and US-centric understandings of civic life and the values that underpin it. Studying participation in the LGBT movement in Prague, Czech Republic provides one context for complicating such underlying assumptions. Within theory on mobilization, collective identity is said to act as a conduit for developing personal investment through individuals' identities. Interviews with LGBT people in Prague, however, show that there is little sense of or desire for collective identity among these potential participants. Czech national history contextualizes respondents' distinct descriptions of the role of civic life and activism, value of private life, and contemporary situation for LGBT people in Prague. Drawing from these descriptions, and an analysis of the influence of values on movement participation in the Czech Republic and other CEE countries, I argue that nation and history complicate the application of collective identity for mobilization in Prague's LGBT movement.

While activists have the public in mind when engaging in framing activity throughout a long policy struggle, ballot measure campaigns create a context in which the public and policymakers are closely related audiences. Lacking the formal deliberative mechanisms present in other institutional venues, voters as policymakers rely almost entirely on information, framing, and cues from groups involved in direct legislation. California is the only state where voters approved two different measures prohibiting same-sex marriage: Proposition 22 in 2000 and Proposition 8 in 2008. Thus, it offers a useful case study for studying activist groups' messaging and framing in the context of policymaking via ballot measures. This paper relies on campaign materials from Proposition 22 and Proposition 8 to examine whether or not activists learn from and alter their messaging strategies based on prior campaigns and changed legal and political contexts.

This chapter examines the relationship between research, activism and politics. It explores how LGBT issues are translated into policies or demands, to understand if queerness can still escape from the politically sedative articulation of a homonormative sexual citizenship. Hence, the chapter asks critical questions about the relationship between sexual politics, social structure and collective action. In so doing, it draws on research gathered from in-depth interviews and focus groups with LGBT activists, the LGBT Offce of the Turin City Council and its local, regional and national network in Italy.

El artículo propone, a partir del estudio de Hawaii de Marco Berger (2013) y Esteros de Papu Curotto (2016), elaborar sobre las tensiones entre el llamado Nuevo Cine Argentino y el cine de temática LGBT en Argentina. Por un lado, explora las disyunciones entre el modo en que se narran las historias de amor como universales y la temporalidad como principio ordenador de los materiales, focalizando en la figura de los "zombies" o "muertos vivos". Por otro, sitúa esas narraciones en el marco de los cambios en las políticas de igualdad en nuestro país de los últimos 15 años. ; The article proposes, departing from the study of Marco Berger´s Hawaii (2013) and Papu Curotto´s Esteros (2016), to reflect on the tensions between the so called New Argentine Cinema and the LGBT cinema in Argentina. On the one hand, I explore the disjunctions between the narration of love stories and the temporality as an structuring principle, focusing on the figure of "zombies" and "the dead alive". On the other, I attempt to situate these narrations within the frame fo the changes in the politics of equality in Argentina during the last 15 years. ; Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College

International audience ; The links between the fight against HIV/AIDS, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) mobilizations around the world have been extensively demonstrated. However, there are few empirical studies on the effects of new strategies based on access to treatments for homosexuals in Africa, especially in countries where same-sex relationships are punishable by law. In discussing the relationship between HIV/AIDS policies and the formal recognition and inclusion of homosexuals, we ask if it is possible to speak of a therapeutic citizenship. From a sociological and legal perspective, what is important is how the recent global strategies and human rights discourses on HIV/AIDs are impacting the emergence of engaged social actors whose claims go well beyond access to treatments but challenge the Cameroonian legal and health systems. However, LGBT rights advocates' claim for full citizenship through participatory inclusion in public life may not turn out to be successful as it encloses their rights within a pathologized identity, the HIV epidemic. This paper also raises a crucial issue (citizenship) associated with the politics of homosexuality in Africa and offers an empirical dimension on how global health and human rights discourses affect the relationship between State and society in Cameroon. ; Les liens entre la lutte contre le VIH/SIDA et les mobilisations LGBT dans le monde entier ont été largement démontrés. Cependant, il existe quelques études empiriques relatives aux effets de nouvelles stratégies fondées sur l'accès aux traitements pour les homosexuels en Afrique, en particulier dans des pays où les relations entre partenaires de même sexe sont sanctionnées par la loi. Discuter de la relation entre les politiques en matière d'VIH/SIDA et la reconnaissance et l'inclusion formelle des homosexuels, est l'occasion de nous demander s'il est possible de parler d'une citoyenneté thérapeutique. D'un point de vue sociologique et juridique, ce qui importante est la façon dont les ...

International audience ; The links between the fight against HIV/AIDS, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) mobilizations around the world have been extensively demonstrated. However, there are few empirical studies on the effects of new strategies based on access to treatments for homosexuals in Africa, especially in countries where same-sex relationships are punishable by law. In discussing the relationship between HIV/AIDS policies and the formal recognition and inclusion of homosexuals, we ask if it is possible to speak of a therapeutic citizenship. From a sociological and legal perspective, what is important is how the recent global strategies and human rights discourses on HIV/AIDs are impacting the emergence of engaged social actors whose claims go well beyond access to treatments but challenge the Cameroonian legal and health systems. However, LGBT rights advocates' claim for full citizenship through participatory inclusion in public life may not turn out to be successful as it encloses their rights within a pathologized identity, the HIV epidemic. This paper also raises a crucial issue (citizenship) associated with the politics of homosexuality in Africa and offers an empirical dimension on how global health and human rights discourses affect the relationship between State and society in Cameroon. ; Les liens entre la lutte contre le VIH/SIDA et les mobilisations LGBT dans le monde entier ont été largement démontrés. Cependant, il existe quelques études empiriques relatives aux effets de nouvelles stratégies fondées sur l'accès aux traitements pour les homosexuels en Afrique, en particulier dans des pays où les relations entre partenaires de même sexe sont sanctionnées par la loi. Discuter de la relation entre les politiques en matière d'VIH/SIDA et la reconnaissance et l'inclusion formelle des homosexuels, est l'occasion de nous demander s'il est possible de parler d'une citoyenneté thérapeutique. D'un point de vue sociologique et juridique, ce qui importante est la façon dont les ...

International audience ; The links between the fight against HIV/AIDS, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) mobilizations around the world have been extensively demonstrated. However, there are few empirical studies on the effects of new strategies based on access to treatments for homosexuals in Africa, especially in countries where same-sex relationships are punishable by law. In discussing the relationship between HIV/AIDS policies and the formal recognition and inclusion of homosexuals, we ask if it is possible to speak of a therapeutic citizenship. From a sociological and legal perspective, what is important is how the recent global strategies and human rights discourses on HIV/AIDs are impacting the emergence of engaged social actors whose claims go well beyond access to treatments but challenge the Cameroonian legal and health systems. However, LGBT rights advocates' claim for full citizenship through participatory inclusion in public life may not turn out to be successful as it encloses their rights within a pathologized identity, the HIV epidemic. This paper also raises a crucial issue (citizenship) associated with the politics of homosexuality in Africa and offers an empirical dimension on how global health and human rights discourses affect the relationship between State and society in Cameroon. ; Les liens entre la lutte contre le VIH/SIDA et les mobilisations LGBT dans le monde entier ont été largement démontrés. Cependant, il existe quelques études empiriques relatives aux effets de nouvelles stratégies fondées sur l'accès aux traitements pour les homosexuels en Afrique, en particulier dans des pays où les relations entre partenaires de même sexe sont sanctionnées par la loi. Discuter de la relation entre les politiques en matière d'VIH/SIDA et la reconnaissance et l'inclusion formelle des homosexuels, est l'occasion de nous demander s'il est possible de parler d'une citoyenneté thérapeutique. D'un point de vue sociologique et juridique, ce qui importante est la façon dont les stratégies mondiales récentes et les discours sur les Droits de l'homme sur les VIH/SIDA ont un impact sur l'émergence d'acteurs sociaux engagés dont les revendications dépassent largement l'accès aux traitements et questionnent les systèmes juridiques et de santé du Cameroun. Cependant, la prétention des défenseurs des droits des LGBT revendiquant une citoyenneté complète à travers une inclusion participative dans la vie publique pourrait ne pas réussir puisque cela enferme leurs droits dans une identité pathologisée, l'épidémie de VIH. Cet article soulève aussi une question essentielle (citoyenneté) associée aux politiques relatives à l'homosexualité en Afrique et présente une dimension empirique sur la façon dont les discours mondiaux sur la santé et les droits de l'homme affectent la relation entre l'Etat et la société au Cameroun.

Transgender communities are always considered not part of the citizenship project. The recent Supreme Court verdict making them very much part of the citizenshop discourse has considerably changed the situation. Even though these communities have found their presence since ancient times, yet it took such a long time to recognise their legal rights. Yet, if one closely look at the judgement, there are shortcomings and it needs further improvement. The most important drawback is that it does not address the question of their social recognition and also it does not address the unconventional transgender community in its analysis. It only recognises their legal rights.

In the late 1980s, critiques of the universalism of second-wave feminism led to the re-evaluation of lesbian feminism, a diverse movement that had been developing in North American and West European context since the early 1970s. New generations of lesbians increasingly rejected many of its ideals and stereotyped past lesbian movements as essentialist and exclusionary. Contending that as gender continues to be relevant to sexuality politics, in this paper we discuss whether lesbian feminisms might have something to offer contemporary LGBT and queer politics. Our investigation focuses on re-examining the limitations and possibilities of lesbian feminisms for contemporary politics, practice and theory. Using a question-and-answer format, the paper is structured as a discussion between three separate/individual authors, each of whom is differently situated. The result is a cross-cultural, interdisciplinary, and multi-generational assessment by three post-lesbian feminists working with gender and sexualities in geography and sociology.

This paper explores the heuristic power as well as the limits of the American literature on religion and politics in the analysis of EU morality politics. Secular Europe is presently confronting some challenges raised by the increased politicization of morality issues. Morality issues feed value-based conflicts between actors holding diverging worldviews. Religious groups in particular seek to promote their own ethical interests on a variety of matters such as bioethics, environment, LGBT issues, etc. The American literature on religion and politics offers valuable insights into how to theorize the involvement of religious groups in morality politics. The religious restructuring theory, popularized under the "culture wars" label, explains how ideological differences crosscut denominational lines and create new religious alignments with political parties. The paper considers the possibility of transposing this American theory to the European Union; in other words: how and to what extent the American culture wars can provide a useful theoretical framework for studying EU morality politics? Taking into account the limits of such a transposition, the objective is to define how the culture wars scenario fits EU morality politics in the light of the social, institutional and political features of the Union. For this purpose, the culture wars theory is given two different – not necessarily antagonistic, rather possibly complementary – meanings: 1/ a political style emphasizing group differences in order to substantiate policy positions and to attract public attention; 2/ a polarizing force creating new and sustainable cleavages between and within social and political groups. This paper is arguing that EU morality politics corresponds more to a sensationalizing and absolutizing political style than to new deep and structural cleavages. In other words, religion does not produce a strong and structural polarizing effect as is the case in U.S. politics. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished