Homonationalism in Eastern Europe?: Interrogating the Concept

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

Since 2007, when Jasbir Puar coined “homonationalism” to argue about the instrumentalization of LGBTQI+ rights by powers like the US to advance their nationalist agenda in the context of the War on Terror, it has become a key term of queer studies. This roundtable will engage with the challenges, opportunities, and limitations of applying this analytical framework to the context of Eastern Europe—specifically, in the context of the prominent role that discourses of LGBTQI+ rights have gained since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The speakers will discuss: 1) whether the application of this concept beyond the scope of Puar’s original makes it void of its original critical potential;
2) what implications the use of this framework in relation to our region carries. Dmitri Dorogov will question what insights the current accounts of the ethics of political critique can offer to the debate on the application of homonationalism in contexts where the use of this term is contested. Sandra Joy Russell will consider formations/challenges related to (homo)nationalism and if the framing itself suits the Ukrainian case. Tatiana Klepikova will discuss the meanings of having the benchmarks of homonationalism. Alexandra Novitskaya will interrogate the "travels" of homonationalism in transnational East European and Eurasian spaces and in experiences of queer asylum-seekers from post-Soviet countries in the United States. Victoria Henretty will analyze the transnational response to homophobic violence in Chechnya (how homophobia and occupation are connected while highlighting Chechen state responses to LGBT activism as more than a “natural” response to Western homonationalist ideals).

Sub Unit

• Gender/LGBTQ Studies

Chair

• Tatiana Klepikova, U of Regensburg (Germany)

Roundtable Members

• Dmitrii Dorogov, Södertörn U (Sweden)

• Victoria Henretty, Indiana U Bloomington

• Tatiana Klepikova, U of Regensburg (Germany)

• Alexandra Novitskaya, U of Maryland, Baltimore County

• Sandra Joy Russell, Mt Holyoke College