Queer As a Political Concept

View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies Gender Studies University of Helsinki, Finland Queer as a Political Concept Jacek Kornak Academic Thesis To be publicly discussed, with the permission of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Helsinki, in auditorium XII, on 4 February 2015 at 12 o’clock Supervised by Academy Professor Tuija Pulkkinen Gender Studies University of Helsinki Reviewed by Professor Anu Koivunen Department of Media Studies Stockholm University Doctor Matt Cook Department of History, Classics and Archaeology Birkbeck, University of London © 2015 Jacek Kornak ISBN 978-951-51-0561-5 (paperback) ISBN 978-951-51-0562-2 (PDF) Unigrafia Helsinki 2015 Abstract The subject of this study is the term: “queer” which I analyse as a political concept. In many English-speaking countries “queer” has been a common abusive term for homosexuals and other sexually non-normative individuals. From around the end of the 1980s the term was picked up by many activists and academics as a tool for political engagement. Initially “queer” was politicized in the context of the AIDS crisis but soon afterwards, the term was used to address political, social and cultural marginalization of sexual minorities. “Queer” has ever since remained one of the most significant concepts in contemporary sexual minority politics. I examine how “queer” became a powerful political signifier and I study political messages that the term carried. My study focuses on multiple uses of “queer”, rising from various forms of direct political activism to numerous academic publications. I argue that the term often functioned as a type of alternative identity, a basis of community, an incitement for political action and even a philosophical category. Rather than trying to establish common elements between the uses of “queer”, I present the multiplicity of routes by which “queer” was mobilized politically. The research here described investigates an underexplored topic in the academic literature, as most publications to this day offer analyses of queer theories or activism, while the very concept “queer” has often been overlooked. By discussing the political uses of the term, my study therefore goes beyond the scope of so-called queer theory. Instead, I analyse these theories from a novel standpoint, reflecting on the conceptual politics that “queer” performs in various texts. This thesis traces the conceptual change that “queer” underwent to become an umbrella term for various political claims. At the end of the 1980s, “queer” was used by ACT UP activists and, subsequently, by other groups and individuals to express disagreement with mainstream U.S. sexual politics. From about 1991 “queer” enters academia. I study texts by Teresa de Lauretis, Michael Warner, Judith Butler, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Lee Edelman and several others. I offer conceptual analyses of their use of “queer” as a political concept. I also engage in discussion about the consequences of certain political claims for sexual minorities. My findings indicate that “queer” was one of the central concepts used in academic debates concerning sexual minorities in the 1990s. For instance, Teresa de Lauretis used the term to criticize the previous lesbian and gay discourse and to incite development of a new language that would accommodate the multiplicity of experiences of lesbian and gay people. Judith Butler used the term to address intersections of sex, class and race. For Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick “queer” is a specific deconstructive term, whereas for Jack (Judith) Halberstam it is an anarchic term that opens a horizon of an alternative politics. Over the past recent decades there have been countless uses of “queer” as a political concept. My thesis analyses the most influential ones. I present a variety of political purposes the concept serves and point out the importance of this concept within contemporary sexual minority movement and thought. iii Acknowledgments The process of working on a PhD thesis could be characterised by two Heideggerian terms Angst and Sein-zum-Tode. What helps in dealing with this state of being-a-graduate-student and creates illusions that help to survive are often the people that one meets. I am sure I would have not written this doctoral thesis if not for the countless people that I met on my way. I would like to take this opportunity to thank at least some of them. First, the person without whom I would definitely never be able to write this PhD thesis, my advisor Academy Professor Tuija Pulkkinen. In 2007 I started working with her, initially at the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Political Thought and Conceptual Change (PolCon) and later as part of her Finnish Academy Professorship project Philosophy and Politics in Feminist Theory. Tuija has offered not only her own comprehensive expertise on gender studies, philosophy and political theory but she also introduced me to a broad network of international scholars. However, Tuija was not only the supervisor of my doctoral research but also a mentor, someone who inspired and supported me. I am very grateful to her for her academic advice but also for her faith in me. Perhaps the last one is a metaphysical quality but it would be really hard to finish a PhD without experiencing it. I am very grateful to my pre-examiners Prof. Anu Koivunen and Dr. Matt Cook for their valuable comments and advice. I started my doctoral project in the research team Politics and Philosophy and Gender (PPhiG), part of CoE PolCon. This team provided me a wonderful, stimulating environment for my academic investigations. I am greatly indebted to my colleagues from PPhiG. First I would like to thank my senior colleagues who were always of great inspiration to me Johanna Oksala, Tuula Juvonen and my dear friend and mentor Antu Sorainen. I also want to thank my colleagues, whom I worked with from the start: Mervi Patosalmi, Anna Elomäki, Eeva Urrio. Their advice and friendship were invaluable. On a later stage of my PhD, I had also the chance to work with Julian Honkasalo, Heini Kinnunen, Soili Petäjäniemi-Brown, Sanna Karhu. I am very grateful for their comments and support. I feel really lucky that I had an opportunity to work with such friendly, helpful and encouraging people. In particular I am also very thankful to Heta Rundgren who read and commented on my manuscript on the final stage of my doctoral studies. I would also like to warmly thank the scholars with whom I had the opportunity to keep in touch and exchange ideas. I wish to express my gratitude to Lorenzo Bernini, Fabio Corbisiero, Jose Horacio de Almeida Nascimento Costa, Lee Edelman, Elizabeth Grosz, Sara Heinämaa, Kristian Klockars, Jacek Kochanowski, Nina Lykke, Susanne Lettow, Moya Lloyd, Daniel Monk, Denise Riley, Leena-Maija Rossi, Mikko Tuhkanen. The intellectual exchange that I had with them was very inspiring and had significant impact on this work. In addition to the above, I wish to express my warm gratitude to friends and colleagues whom I met on my academic journey and who, in various ways, supported me Jaana Pirskanen, Ian Zdanowski, Jan Löfström, Maria Svanström, Tuija Modinos, Miia Rantala, Rohit Dasgupta, Diego Falconi Trávez, Junko Saeki and Bernadetta Siara. Finally I wish to thank to my friends for their love and support. First, people in Finland who, through their friendship, made Helsinki my second home: Pauli Kola, Aysan Durukan Tolvanen, Lari Peltonen, Andrzej Drozd and my dearest friend Ranjit Swamy Sambhanghi. I want to mention here also my old Polish friends who always believed in me, among them are Tomasz Kierzkowski, Katarzyna Bielecka, Magdalena Gawin, Malwina Bakalarska and Filip Maj. I wish to thank also people who during the recent years helped me survive in a small Northern English town Piotr Kapica, Magda Janeczko, Corentin Vetter, Stefano Modica Ragusa, David Sanin, Yevgeniy Stotyka, Kasia Narkowicz, Monika Bielecka, Bartek Bielecki. iv Last but definitely not least I want to thank for patience, care and love to my husband Marcelo Kern. My dear, you have survived this. London, 14 December 2014 Jacek Kornak v Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… 01 Chapter 1: The politization of homosexuality in the advent of “queer”…………... 16 1.1 “Queer”: between political movement and philosophy……………………………. 18 1.2 Queer activist before queer movement…………………………………………….. 20 1.3 Stonewall: homosexuality as a political issue………………………………........... 23 1.4 After the Stonewall riots and before the HIV crisis……………………………….. 29 1.5 Gay, lesbian and feminist thought after Stonewall………………………………… 33 1.6 Just before “queer”………………………………………………………………… 40 1.7. The influence of new cultural studies……………………………………...……... 43 Chapter 2: Queer Activists…………………………………………………………... 48 2.1 The early story of “queer” as a political term…………………………………....… 49 2.2 Queer in the eyes of activists………………………………………………………. 52 2.3 “Queer” and the politics of ACT UP and Queer Nation…………………………… 58 2.3.1 ACT UP and the beginning of queer politics……………………...…….. 60 2.3.2 Queer Nation and the popularization of “queer”………………………… 62 2.3.3 Queer and the community………………………………………………... 66 2.3.4 Queer political strategies and tactics……………………………………... 71 2.4 Activism enters academia…………………………………………………………... 73 2.4.1 Queer politics as a form of academic critique……………………………. 74 2.4.2 Queer academic utopia…………………………………………………… 75 2.4.3 Queer against norms……………………………………............................ 77 2.5 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………… 78 Chapter 3: Early uses of “queer” in academia………………………...……………. 81 3.1. Academia and activism……………………………………………………………. 81 3.2. “Queer” as a hypothesis…………………………………………………………… 85 3.3 Queer vampires…………………………………………………………………….. 92 3.4 Queer Politics………………………………………………………………………. 96 3.5 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………… 102 Chapter 4: “Queer” as a strategic and temporary signifier………………………... 104 4.1 Queer: between politics and academia……………………………………………... 105 4.2 “Queer” between different feminisms……………………………………………… 107 4.3 Queer grammar……………………………………………………………………..

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