[NextGenderation]
Warsaw University
Gender Studies Center and American Studies Center
Seeking Queer Alliances: Resisting Dominant Discourses
and
Institutions
7th international queer studies conference
29-30.08.2006
As the political climate in many parts of the world
turns
increasingly conservative, we are asking whether a
concept such as
global homophobia may be a useful analytical and/or
political tool,
andas a correlate questionwhether queer concepts
travel well
across political borders and geo-cultural spaces.
Do dominant discourses that include neo-liberalism as
well as
fundamentalisms of all kinds, and dominant
institutions spanning the
state as well as churches, require distinct forms of
counterpractice? How to reclaim discourse appropriated
by the
dominant institutions?
What are and what could such practices of resistance
be? To what
extent may our experiences of LGBTQ subjugation and
LGBTQ resistance
be shared and also used to mutual advantage? Who may
our dialogue
partners be for such sharing? What alliances have been
formed, and
in which locations, for purposes of political activism
and for
achieving particular strategic aims? What is the place
of feminist
concepts in queer theory?
How is queer theory reflected in political activism,
and how have
particular theoretical concepts been adopted for
political practice
in different cultural contexts? How do activists serve
as theorists,
how do theorists serve as political practitioners, and
how does the
relationship between those functions manifest itself
across contexts?
What is the role of mutual respect and self-respect in
the forming
of queer/LGBTQ alliances across cultural spaces? What
are some
internal and external obstacles to communication among
queers
occupying different social and geographical spaces?
What role does
the category of gender play in those different places?
And what are
the factors of cohesion from one alliance to another?
We wish to ask those questions, and others, in the
context of the
translatability of queer concepts across cultural and
linguistic
spaces, as well as the translatability between the
analytical and
the practical uses to which these concepts are put.
As far the format of the conference is concerned,
there will be
twelve 90-minute sessions over the course of two
days, and a two-
hour summing up discussion at the end of each day. We
would like
each of the 90-minute sessions to be hosted by
individuals or teams
("session leaders") who will be responsible for the
theme and form
of the session, e.g. workshop, roundtable discussion,
conventional
panel, panel consisting of several short statements
(or "postcards")
followed by a discussion, or any other format.
We welcome 200-word proposals for whole 90-minute
sessions or
individual papers until May 15th, 2006. The proposals
should be sent
to:
Tomasz Basiuk
American Studies Center
Warsaw University
Al. Niepodleglosci 22
02-653 Warszawa (Warsaw)
Poland
Fax: (+4822) 5533322
Or via e-mail:
queerconference@???
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