[NextGenderation]
queer leben/living queer
21st and 22nd September, 2007
RAW-Tempel, Berlin
The conference queer leben (living queer) emerged
from a project tutorial on Queer Spaces at Humboldt
University Berlin and is being held in cooperation
with the Queer-Feminist Days. The aim of the
conference is to engage discussions on current issues
of Queer Theory and queer practice in the
German-speaking world specifically. We hope that
workshops, presentations and debates will facilitate
an exchange traversing the boundaries of academia and
a reflection on political strategies. Among other
things, we consider it fundamental to question the
boundaries between theory and practice. The
conference is being held under the name queer
leben/living queer in order to create a space for
the practice of and the reflection on realities of
queer life/lives.
We are looking forward to propositions for
presentations and workshops. Suggested topics include,
but are not limited to, the following questions:
- Taking Stock
How, and by whom, is the term queer defined today
compared to the past two decades? What is the
situation of Queer Theory in the German-speaking
world? What is being discussed and where are the gaps?
What is the relation to theory in English? Where, and
by whom, is Queer Theory done?
Which queer practices exist? What are they referring
to? Where are they happening (the stage, every-day
life, subcultural spaces, etc.)? How and by whom are
those queer spaces created?
- Theory and Practice
Along which lines are boundaries between theory and
practice established? Who can draw those lines, who
can claim interpretative authority of the respective
fields? Which battles for authority exist between an
academic theoretical field and a subcultural
practical field? Who is claiming authenticity and
politics, and how? Which queer identities are being
defined in the process?
- Visibilities
Which queer practices are visible in queer spaces and
the mainstream (of heteronormative culture as well as
the gay and lesbian mainstream/s)? What can be
classified as queer practice? Who decides? Which
status do every-day practices have in comparison to
stage performances when it comes to visibility? Which
conflicts arise out of the demand for visibility as a
central political goal? What is the relation between
visibility and strategies of uncertainty and
ambiguity? Which ambiguities can be visible, and in
which contexts?
- Intersectionalities
Which contradictions are created by conflicting
identity politics? Which categories of difference are
obliterated by the focus on visibility and ambiguity,
especially considering the fact that ambiguity is
mostly created with regard to gender and sexuality?
Who can afford a politics of ambiguity? What are
other approaches toward queer practices? Which ones
are thinkable?
- Political Strategies
What are queer politics? Which problems and
conflicts are queer politics currently facing? How
can visibility for every-day practices be created? How
can the relationship between theory and practice
be rethought? What is the role of utopian spaces in
queer politics? Which strategies of networking are
possible?
We are looking forward to receiving proposals for
workshops and lectures (title plus abstract of 1
A4-page max.)
Please e-mail your proposals to queerleben@???
until the 30th of June.
More information:
www.queerleben.blogspot.com
Website coming soon...
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