On the right side of history or the wrong side of empire? Queer approaches to international politics

Contemporary global queer politics is haunted by colonial legacies. In the 19th century, European imperialists viewed the imposition of heteronormative ideals, through e.g. colonial sodomy bans, as a way to modernize “savages” and root out pre- colonial forms of gender dissent and same-sex desire in Africa, Asia and the Americas. In contrast, in the 21st century LGBTQI rights are increasingly invoked as a marker of modernity and good statehood, and countries like Uganda, Russia and Poland have received international condemnation and economic sanctions for violating the rights of LGBTQI people. This resignification, where same-sex desire has moved from being a marker of backwardness to a sign of progress, was illustrated in President Biden’s speech in the UN General Assembly in 2021, where he promised to “defend the rights of LGBTQI individuals (…) anywhere” and that “the future will belong to those who embrace human dignity, not trample it”.

Queer scholars of international relations have pointed at historical and contemporary entanglements between global LGBTQI promotion and (neo-)colonial politics. Concepts such as “homonationalism”(Puar 2007), “homocolonialism” (Rahman 2014), “gay imperialism” (Haritaworn et al 2006) and the “Gay International” (Massad 2002) draw attention to how global inequalities, geopolitical relations, racialized othering and Western exceptionalism structure contemporary LGBTQI advocacy as well as “LGBTQI-inclusive” development and foreign policies.

Today, queer activists may find themselves in a dilemmatic place, stuck between two disciplinary regimes: on the one hand the “queer liberalism” (Eng 2010) promoted by Global North institutions and international LGBTQI organizations, and on the other hand the queerphobic nativism represented by nationalist and religious actors, anti-gender movements and postcolonial governments. How can queer research navigate these political and theoretical tensions and move beyond either/or binaries? A starting point of this panel is that while critical enquiries of international LGBTQI rights promotion and their intersection with colonial and nationalist logics continue to be crucial, such critiques have not always been helpful in suggesting possible alternative pathways. As queer scholars interrogate global power relations, we must recognize the agency and predicaments of queer activists who struggle against criminalization and state repression, and for whom international support, economic assistance, as well as the vocabulary of universal human rights – despite their problems – may be of enormous strategic importance. Within the normative frameworks, discursive patterns and power constellations of contemporary international LGBTQI politics, what kinds of queer politics are made possible and impossible?

The panel welcomes paper proposals from all disciplines that seek to analyze and problematize aspects of contemporary global queer politics.

Emil Edenborg1, Katharina Kehl2 and Malte Breiding Hansen3

1Fil.Dr. Statsvetenskap, Biträdande Lektor, Institutionen För Etnologi, Religionshistoria Och Genusvetenskap, Stockholms Universitet

2Fil.Dr., Lärare, Genusvetenskapliga Institutionen, Lunds Universitet

3Msc, Doktorand, Statsvetenskapliga Institutionen, Lunds Universitet