De-Centring Western Sexualities: Central and Eastern European Perspectives

by Robert Kulpa (Editor), Joanna Mizielinska (Editor)

Overview

De-Centring Western Sexualities critically assesses the current state of knowledge about sexualities outside the framings of 'The West', by focusing on gender and sexuality within the context of Central and Eastern Europe. Providing rich case studies drawn from a range of "post-communist" countries, this interdisciplinary volume brings together the latest research on the formation of sexualities in Central and Eastern Europe, alongside analyses of the sexual and national identity politics of the region. Engaged with current debates within queer studies surrounding temporality and knowledge production, and inspired by post-colonial critique, the book problematises the Western hegemony that often characterises sexuality studies, and presents local theoretical insights better attuned to their geo-temporal realities. As such, it offers a cultural and social re-evaluation of everyday life experiences, and will be of interest to sociologists, queer studies scholars, geographers and anthropologists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138246904
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/28/2016
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Robert Kulpa is completing his Ph.D. at Birkbeck College, London and Joanna Mizieliñska is Professor of Sociology at the Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Poland, and Visiting Professor of Gender Studies at the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Table of Contents

Introduction:Why Study Sexualities in Central and Eastern Europe?, Robert Kulpa, Joanna Mizielińska; Chapter 1 ‘Contemporary Peripheries’: Queer Studies, Circulation of Knowledge and East/West Divide, Joanna Mizielińska, Robert Kulpa; Chapter 2 Between Walls: Provincialisms, Human Rights, Sexualities and Serbian Public Discourses on EU Integration, Jelisaveta Blagojević; Chapter 3 Nations and Sexualities – ‘West’ and ‘East’, Robert Kulpa; Chapter 4 A Short History of the Queer Time of ‘Post-Socialist’ Romania, or Are We There Yet? Let’s Ask Madonna!, Shannon Woodcock; Chapter 5 Travelling Ideas, Travelling Times: On the Temporalities of LGBT and Queer Politics in Poland and the ‘West’, Joanna Mizielińska; Chapter 6 Researching Transnational Activism around LGBTQ Politics in Central and Eastern Europe: Activist Solidarities and Spatial Imaginings, Jon Binnie, Christian Klesse; Chapter 7 Rendering Gender in Lesbian Families: A Czech Case, Kateina Nedbálková; Chapter 8 The Heteronormative Panopticon and the Transparent Closet of the Public Space in Slovenia, Roman Kuhar; Chapter 9 Heteronormativity, Intimate Citizenship and the Regulation of Same-Sex Sexualities in Bulgaria, Sasha Roseneil, Mariya Stoilova; Chapter ter10 Situating Intimate Citizenship in Macedonia: Emotional Navigation and Everyday Queer/Kvar Grounded Moralities, Alexander Lambevski;

Editorial Reviews

'De-Centring Western Sexualities advances critical studies of sexualities and sexual politics in significant and inspiring ways. The authors provocatively question the "Western" focus of sexuality studies and highlight the consequences of Central and Eastern Europe’s absence from recent queer critiques. This valuable collection offers essential new perspectives on the marketization of (homo)sexuality and the functioning of heteronormativity in these countries.' Gavin Brown, University of Leicester, UK and co-editor of Geographies of Sexualities 'De-Centring Western Sexualities is a landmark volume in the study of gender and sexuality. Kulpa and Mizielinska have gathered here and framed some of the very best essays on discourses of sexuality in the context of Central and Eastern Europe. Not content to simply mark distinctions between East and West, the US and the rest, local and global, the editors' introduction and many of the essays here actually retheorize concepts of temporality, spatiality and sociality in the process of asking after the meaning of sexuality outside of its framing in "the West". Ranging in topic from heteronormativity to lesbian families, from transnational activism to queer temporalities and combining social science methodologies with theoretical inquiries, this collection is as broad as it is deep and it creates many new contexts for rethinking sexuality and de-centering the West.' Judith Halberstam, University of Southern California, USA, author of In a Queer Time and Place 'While the academic study of gender in post-Communist Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has generated a significant body of literature, the number of works dealing with sexuality - and in particular non-heterosexuality - remains minimal. Robert Kulpa and Joanna Mizielińska’s edited collection is thus a welcome addition to this neglected field. The editors are to be congratulated for having provided cohesion by encouraging all the contributors to situate their rese

From the Publisher