Queer, Quotidian, and Questioning in Global Times: Engaging Hybrid Identities and Cultures in Education

• In Event: 73.022 - Asking Queer(er) Questions: Using Queer Scholarship to Reshape Qualitative Educational Research

Abstract

Objectives & Theoretical Frame :
“The failure of academic feminists to recognize difference as a crucial strength is a failure to reach beyond the first patriarchal lesson” (Lorde, 1984, p. 112).

In the three decades since, feminist, postcolonial, and queer scholars (e.g. Anzaldúa, 1987; Bulbeck, 1998; Connell, 2007; Mohanty, Russo, & Torres, 1991; Weedon, 1999) have made significant contributions in terms of engaging difference. For instance, Mohanty (1991) argued for the need to critique hegemonic discourses of Western feminisms and address “the formulation of autonomous, geographically, historically, and culturally grounded feminist concerns and strategies” (p. 51). And, Anzaldúa (1987), wrote:

The struggle is inner: … our psyches resemble the border-towns and are populated by the same people. The struggle has always been inner, and is played out in the outer terrains. Awareness of our situation must come before inner changes, which in turn come before changes in society. Nothing happens in the “real” world unless it first happens in the images in our heads. (p. 87)

Such writings have influenced discourse, research, and pedagogy in various fields, including education. Critical, self-reflexive education scholars recognize the need to remain open to contradictions, validate multiplicities, and engage the queer and the quotidian even as they question. These considerations are germane to engaging hybrid identities, cultures, and representations – particularly those pertaining to LGBTQs (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning individuals/communities) today.

Sources/Materials:
Drawing on discourse analysis of various texts (e.g. videos, newspaper and research reports, secondary sources), this paper considers – as an illustrative example linking queer experiences with qualittaive strategies – the emergence of LGBTQ activism and resistance in India over the past two decades (Vanita, 2002) and the contradictions marking it. For instance, LGBTQs in India have been fighting for the repeal of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, “intended to punish the offense of sodomy, buggery, and bestiality” (cited in Bhaskaran, 2002, p. 15). While this colonial relic was declared unconstitutional in 2009, the repeal was overturned in 2013, leading to a “Global Day of Rage” marked by protests on various continents. At the same time, LGBTQs across India have organized various events, including pride parades and film festivals. Witness, for instance, a video of a queer flash-mob organized by the Mumbai-based youth group Yaariyan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSpO5g-L-u4 ). And, remarkably, last April, “India’s Supreme Court recognized transgender people as a legal third gender” (“Transgender Rights”, 2014), framing the landmark decision as a “human rights issue,” (McCarthy, 2014) and thereby making India the first country to legalize recognition of a third gender.

Discussion, Implications, Significance:
Returning to engaging hybrid identities and cultures, this section addresses the following:
• How can we as qualitative inquireres open ourselves up to new learning in/from our own communities, communities close to us, and those that are distant and seem quite different?
• How will our inquiry practices engage contradictions and differences towards queering, transforming relations of power towards greater equity and justice in global times?
• What are the implications for theory, epistemological investments, and research methods?

Author

• Nina Asher, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities