La Chine, mon amour? Feminist and Queer Transfers Through Mao- ism: Tel Quel, 1974. In the spring of 1974

In the spring of 1974, against the backdrop of pro-maoist enthusiasm in Western leftist movements, five French avantgarde intellectuals went on a trip to China. Belonging to the inner circle of Tel Quel, a leading journal, they published extensively on their “Chinese” experience over the following years. The article proposes a re-reading both of the travelers’ texts and their numerous critics, focusing on those elements which critical readers seem to have systematically ignored so far. After discussing the main outlines of how Tel Quel’s reports are usually read – the theme of orientalism figuring prominently here – the article concentrates on three hitherto neglected questions. First, what “really happens” in the often-quoted key scene where Julia Kristeva introduces the encounter of the group with the strangers’ gaze? Second, what happens if we understand her book On Chinese Women as an inter-text within a series of feminist travelogues on China? Third, scrutinizing representations of Roland Barthes and François Wahl, in what ways are homosexual presence and homophobia at stake in Tel Quel’s “Chinese” narrations?In the spring of 1974, against the backdrop of pro-maoist enthusiasm in Western leftist movements, five French avantgarde intellectuals went on a trip to China. Belonging to the inner circle of Tel Quel, a leading journal, they published extensively on their “Chinese” experience over the following years. The article proposes a re-reading both of the travelers’ texts and their numerous critics, focusing on those elements which critical readers seem to have systematically ignored so far. After discussing the main outlines of how Tel Quel’s reports are usually read – the theme of orientalism figuring prominently here – the article concentrates on three hitherto neglected questions. First, what “really happens” in the often-quoted key scene where Julia Kristeva introduces the encounter of the group with the strangers’ gaze? Second, what happens if we understand her book On Chinese Women as an inter-text within a series of feminist travelogues on China? Third, scrutinizing representations of Roland Barthes and François Wahl, in what ways are homosexual presence and homophobia at stake in Tel Quel’s “Chinese” narrations

Queer Temporality, international assemblages and transfeminism for historians: (Post-)queer discourses revisited

Abstract: Closely intertwined with political activism, queer studies have evolved as a vast field of knowledge, and offering an overview of the literature – as is presented here – poses considerable challenges. Addressing concepts of time, place, and subjectivity, the author highlights some of the more recent “turns” within queer theories and reflects upon their impact on historical research. One key trend is the way in which embodied and affective temporalities figure prominently among new queer concepts. One of the self-reflexive conclusions that have been formulated by and for historians deals with the question of what kind of relations scholars are supposed to cultivate with ‘queers’ of the past. A second development within queer theories emerged in the aftermath of 9/11, when national(ist) productions of racialized and sexualized others moved to the centre of queer analysis; the term “homonationalism” widely gained authority. In relation to the history and presence of international asymmetries, the paper raises questions about queer perspectives on geopolitical power relations and the ongoing challenges of doing justice to post-colonial criticism. A third “turn” originates from transgender activism and trans theory, particularly trans*feminism, as promoted by French, Spanish and other “non-US” authors. In this regard, the paper discusses consequences of a queer trans*feminist approach to subject formations, border theories, and embodied reading in historical research.Abstract: Closely intertwined with political activism, queer studies have evolved as a vast field of knowledge, and offering an overview of the literature – as is presented here – poses considerable challenges. Addressing concepts of time, place, and subjectivity, the author highlights some of the more recent “turns” within queer theories and reflects upon their impact on historical research. One key trend is the way in which embodied and affective temporalities figure prominently among new queer concepts. One of the self-reflexive conclusions that have been formulated by and for historians deals with the question of what kind of relations scholars are supposed to cultivate with ‘queers’ of the past. A second development within queer theories emerged in the aftermath of 9/11, when national(ist) productions of racialized and sexualized others moved to the centre of queer analysis; the term “homonationalism” widely gained authority. In relation to the history and presence of international asymmetries, the paper raises questions about queer perspectives on geopolitical power relations and the ongoing challenges of doing justice to post-colonial criticism. A third “turn” originates from transgender activism and trans theory, particularly trans*feminism, as promoted by French, Spanish and other “non-US” authors. In this regard, the paper discusses consequences of a queer trans*feminist approach to subject formations, border theories, and embodied reading in historical research

Talking Back, Publishing Back: Unokanma Okonjo und historische Kämpfe um Schwarze "Selbstveröffentlichung"

Welche Strategien verfolgten nichtkanonisierte Schwarze Autorinnen im Umfeld der Bürgerrechts- und Frauenbewegungen, um sich ins politische und kulturelle Archiv einzuschreiben? Der Beitrag fokussiert die Lebens- und Werkgeschichte von Unokanma Okonjo, einer bislang kaum erforschten, antirassistisch und antisexistisch engagierten, transnational positionierten Akteurin der 1960er- und 1970er-Jahre. Die panafrikanische Aktivistin und engagierte Sozialwissenschaftlerin veröffentlichte agitatorische, akademische und lyrische Texte. Der Beitrag analysiert in erster Linie diese Produktion von Texten und das Begehren der Autorin nach "Gelesenwerden" und arbeitet dabei mit den Konzepten "ikonische Artikulation" als Element performativen Handelns, Talking Back als Äußerungsform minorisierter Schwarzer Frauen* sowie "Publishing Back" als Weiterführung von Praktiken der Auto_Biografie und der Selbstdokumentation. Die Bewegungen von Autorinnen wie Okonjo ins und aus dem Archiv Schwarzer postkolonialer feministischer Geschichte werden als unabgeschlossene Projekte einer „Selbstveröffentlichung“ diskutiert.What strategies did non-canonical Black women writers from the civil rights and women’s movements pursue when seeking to be included in the political and cultural archive? This article focuses on the life and work of Unokanma Okonjo, a hitherto little-researched, anti-racist and anti-sexist transnational actor of the 1960s and 1970s. The Pan-African activist and committed social scientist published political, academic and lyrical texts. This article primarily analyses this production of texts and the author’s desire to "be read", working with the concepts of "iconic articulation" as an element of performativity, "talking back" as a form of self-expression by African American women and "publishing back" as a continuation of auto_biographical and self-documenting practices. Movements by authors such as Okonjo into and out of the archive of Black postcolonial feminist history are discussed as unfinished projects of "self-publication"

"Queer entwickeln"

Hanna Hacker gehörte von 1991 bis 2012 der Redaktion von „L’Homme. Z. F. G.“ an und hat die Hefte „Der Freundin?“ (1993), „Glück“ (1999), „Whiteness“ (2005) und „Spektakel“ (2012) mitherausgegeben. Seit 2011 ist sie Professorin für sozial- und kulturwissenschaftliche Entwicklungsforschung an der Universität Wien. Im März 2012 erschien ihr Buch „Queer entwickeln. Feministische und postkoloniale Analysen“ im Wiener Mandelbaum Verlag. Mit diesem verfolgt sie das Ziel, einen Beitrag zur kritischen Reflexion globaler Ungleichheit zu leisten und Schlüsselkonzepte aus den Critical Whiteness Studies, Border Studies und der Kritischen Geographie daraufhin zu befragen, inwieweit mit ihrer Hilfe soziale Ungleichheitsverhältnisse besser verstanden werden können. Im Gespräch mit ihr geht es um den Versuch, das Anregungs potential ihrer Forschungen für eine geschlechtergeschichtlich orientierte Global geschichte herauszufiltern

AidToo, ein Störversuch: Strategien gegen sexualisierte Gewalt im Aid Business

Der Beitrag betrachtet in queerfeministischer, postkolonialer und entwicklungskritischer Perspektive die Aufdeckungen sexualisierter Gewalt im aid business, wie sie mit der Veröffentlichung des einschlägigen "Skandals" bei der britischen NGO Oxfam Ende 2017 begannen und 2018/19 unter dem Kürzel "AidToo" international auf verschiedensten Ebenen verhandelt wurden. Die Analyse bezieht sich insbesondere auf drei Handlungsräume: zunächst auf feministischen Aktivismus, seine Strategie des speaking out und die Strukturen der Protestkampagne zu AidToo; weiters auf kritische und reflexive Debatten in Onlinemedien wie Twitter oder in den Blogs von "Smart Development" und "AfricanFeminism"; und schließlich auf den Umgang betroffener Institutionen, vor allem Oxfam, mit den Aufdeckungen. Im Zentrum steht jeweils die Frage, wie die in AidToo involvierten Akteur*innen Sexualitäten, Körper, Normierungen und Normtransgressionen thematisierten oder dethematisierten. Deutlich werden dabei die Begrenztheiten und Widersprüche der untersuchten aktivistischen, medialen und institutionellen Strategien - aber auch die Wichtigkeit des Aufstörens und Aufschreckens, die politischen Kämpfe im Feld des so nachhaltig in Gewaltstrukturen eingelassenen aid business.Taking a feminist, queer, postcolonial, and postdevelopmental perspective, the paper discusses the revelations of sexual violence in the so-called aid business. Starting at the end of 2017 with the publication of the "scandal" within the British NGO Oxfam, revelations of sexual violence in the aid business were debated internationally under the title "AidToo" in 2018/19. The paper analyses the strategies and rhetoric against violence in this field in three areas of action: firstly, feminist activism, its strategy of "speaking out", and the structures of AidToo as a protest campaign; secondly, critical and reflective debates in online media, such as Twitter or in the blogs "Smart Development" and "AfricanFeminism"; and, finally, third, how involved institutions, especially Oxfam, dealt with the revelations. In each case, focus is placed on how actors involved in AidToo thematised or de-thematised sexualities, bodies, norms, and norm transgressions. Through the analysis the limitations and contradictions of the examined activist, media, and institutional strategies becomes clear, but so too does the importance of politically struggling, disturbing, and unsettling "aidland", which is deeply embedded in structures of violence and inequalities