The digital storyteller's stage: queer everyday activists negotiating privacy and publicness

This article explores how queer digital storytellers understand and mobilize concepts of privacy and publicness as they engage in everyday activism through creating and sharing personal stories designed to contribute to cultural and political debates. Through the pre-production, production, and distribution phases of digital storytelling workshops and participation in a related online community, these storytellers actively negotiate the tensions and continuua among visibility and hiddenness; secrecy and pride; finite and fluid renditions of self; and individual and collective constructions of identity. We argue that the social change they aspire to is at least partially achieved through “networked identity work” on and offline with both intimate and imagined publics.

Queer theory, media studies and editorial processes in queer student media

Australian queer (GLBTIQ) university student activist media is an important site of self-representation. Community media is a significant site for the development of queer identity, community and a key part of queer politics. This paper reviews my research into queer student media, which is grounded in a queer theoretical perspective. Rob Cover argues that queer theoretical approaches that study media products fail to consider the material contexts that contribute to their construction. I use an ethnographic approach to examine how editors construct queer identity and community in queer student media. My research contributes to queer media scholarship by addressing the gap that Cover identifies, and to the rich scholarship on negotiations of queer community.

Mediating identity narratives : a case study in queer digital storytelling as everyday activism

Digital Stories are short autobiographical documentaries, often illustrated with personal photographs and narrated in the first person, and typically produced in group workshops. As a media form they offer ‘ordinary people’ the opportunity to represent themselves to audiences of their choosing; and this amplification of hitherto unheard voices has significant repercussions for their social participation. Many of the storytellers involved in the ‘Rainbow Family Tree’ case study that is the subject of this paper can be characterised as ‘everyday’ activists for their common desire to use their personal stories to increase social acceptance of marginalised identity categories. However, in conflict with their willingness to share their personal stories, many fear the risks and ramifications of distributing them in public spaces (especially online) to audiences both intimate and unknown. Additionally, while technologies for production and distribution of rich media products have become more accessible and user-friendly, many obstacles remain. For many people there are difficulties with technological access and aptitude, personal agency, cultural capital, and social isolation, not to mention availability of the time and energy requisite to Digital Storytelling. Additionally, workshop context, facilitation and distribution processes all influence the content of stories. This paper explores the many factors that make ‘authentic’ self-representation far from straight forward. I use qualitative data drawn from interviews, Digital Story texts and ethnographic observation of GLBTQIS participants in a Digital Storytelling initiative that combined face-to-face and online modes of participation. I consider mediating influences in practice and theory and draw on strategies put forth in cultural anthropology and narrative therapy to propose some practical tools for nuanced and sensitive facilitation of Digital Storytelling workshops and webspaces. Finally, I consider the implications of these facilitation strategies for voice, identity and social participation.

Archivist as activist : lessons from three queer community archives in California

California is home to multiple queer community archives created by community members outside of government, academic, and public archives. These archives are maintained by the communities and are important spaces not only for the preservation of records, but also as safe spaces to study, gather, and learn about the communities’ histories. This article describes the histories of three such queer community archives (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society Lavender Library, Archives, and Cultural Exchange of Sacramento, Inc.; and ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives) in order to discuss the role of activism in the community archives and implications for re-examining the role of activism to incorporate communities into the heart of archival professional work. By understanding the impetus for creating and maintaining queer community archives, archivists can use this knowledge to foster more reflective practices to be more inclusive in their archival practices through outreach, collaboration, and descriptive practices. This article extends our knowledge of community archives and provides evidence for the need to include communities in archival professional practice.

Digital storytelling as everyday activism : Queer identity, voice and networked publics

This thesis investigates the role of personal Digital Stories shared in public spaces as catalysts for social change. By analysing the influence of workshop facilitators, organisations, digital platforms and networked publics on voice and self-representation, it sheds light on shifting meanings of publicness and privacy, both face to face and online. This thesis argues that, despite numerous obstacles, the cumulative influence of diverse voices dispersed among networked publics shape new cultural norms, thereby contributing to gradual social change.

The use of 'queer' in criminal justice discourses

Within criminological literature, there are growing references to a 'queer/ed criminology'. To date, ‘queer criminology’ remains a loose collection of studies and criminal-justice related commentary that uses the term 'queer'. Amid the growing calls for the more substantial development of these criminological studies, it is timely to reflect on the ways that the term ‘queer’ has been used in these discourses, to what ends, and with what effects. This paper considers the manner in which the term 'queer' has been used in these criminological and criminal justice discourses. It suggests that ‘queer’ has been used in two dominant ways: as an 'umbrella' term for lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex, and queer-identified people; and to signify the use of theoretical tools with which to represent sexuality- and gender-diverse people more effectively within criminological research. The paper will argue that these ways of using ‘queer’ have a variety of implications and effects. Specifically, using ‘queer’ as an umbrella term has the potential to reinforce identity categories and the politics that surround identities (a critique that has often appeared in queer contexts), while using it as a theoretical tool potentially reproduces various investments in criminology and criminal justice institutions. Both uses may preclude other productive avenues for critique opened up by the term ‘queer’. The paper will conclude by suggesting that using ‘queer’ as a verb to signify a more deconstructive project directed towards criminology is a possible direction for these discussions. While this approach has its own effects, and articulates with existing deconstructive approaches in criminology, it is important to explore these possibilities at this point in the development of a ‘queer/ed criminology’ for two reasons: it highlights that multiple, and often competing, ‘queer/ed criminologies’ exist; and it expands the diverse possibilities heralded by the notion of ‘queer’.

What's Queer About Queer Criminology?

The term ‘‘queer criminology’’ is increasingly being used in criminological discussions, though there remains little consistency with regard to how it is used and to what it refers. It has been used broadly to describe criminological research on LGBTQ people and their interactions with the justice system, more specifically to describe those analyses that identify and critique the heteronormative knowledges or binarized understandings of gender and sexuality within criminal justice research, and also to label theoretical and conceptual pieces that argue for a greater connection between queer theory and criminology. However, there are some important distinctions between ‘‘queer criminology’’ and ‘‘queer theory’’ more widely, particularly the deconstructive approaches of the latter. This chapter explores the engagements between queer theory and ‘‘queer criminology,’’ specifically focusing on whether ‘‘queer criminology’’ adopts an understanding of ‘‘queer’’ as an attitude, and as signifying a deconstructive project—a position that features in many strands of queer theoretical work. It will argue that while there are different ways of engaging with ‘‘queer’’ as a concept, and that each of these engagements produces different kinds of ‘‘queer’’ projects, ‘‘queer criminology’’ does not always engage with the deconstructive approaches drawn from queer theory. Ultimately, this can limit the ways that ‘queer criminologists’’ are able to address injustice.

Queer criminology, critique, and the "art of not being governed"

This article builds on previous work that argues that a useful path for a ‘‘queer/ed criminology’’ to follow is one that takes ‘‘queer’’ to denote a position. It suggests that one way of developing such an approach is to adopt a particular understanding of critique—specifically one that draws from Michel Foucault’s view of critique as ‘‘the art of not being governed.’’ It then charts some of the possible directions for such a ‘‘queer/ed criminology.’’ While such an approach to critique has previously been discussed within critical criminologies, this article suggests that it is useful for queer criminologists to explore the opportunities that it affords, particularly in order to better appreciate how ‘‘queer/ed criminology’’ might connect to, draw from, or push against other currents among critical criminologies, and help to delineate the unique contribution that this kind of ‘‘queer/ed criminology’’ might make.

Queer, student, activism

Queer student activists are a visible aspect of Australian tertiary communities. This chapter explores the findings of interviews with eight queer student in which they discuss their understandings of queer student activism and the way they see the university setting shaping the production queer student media. The findings draw out two themes: visibility and access and participation. These discussions illustrate how the intersections of queer, student, activism, and their associated contexts, create a particular type of activism. This chapter thus contributes to queer history by demonstrating how one specific cultural subset does queer activism.

Sexualities and sensitivities: Queer(y)ing the ethics of youth research in the field

In contemporary Western societies, the years between childhood and young adulthood are commonly understood to be (trans)formative in the reflexive project of sexual self-making (Russell et al. 2012). As sexual subjects in the making, youthful bodies, desires and sexual activities are often perceived as both volatile and vulnerable, thus subjected to instruction and discipline, protection and surveillance. Accordingly, young people’s sexual proximities are closely monitored by social institutions and ‘(hetero)normalising regimes’ (Warner 1999) for any signs that may compromise the end goal of development—a ‘normal’ reproductive heterosexual monogamous adult...

Queer Youth Research/ers: A reflexive account of risk and intimacy in an ethical (mine)field

In contemporary Western societies, the years between childhood and young adulthood are commonly understood to be (trans)formative in the reflexive project of sexual self-making (Russell et al. 2012). As sexual subjects in the making, youthful bodies, desires and sexual activities are often perceived as both volatile and vulnerable, thus subjected to instruction and discipline, protection and surveillance. Accordingly, young people’s sexual proximities are closely monitored by social institutions and ‘(hetero)normalising regimes’ (Warner 1999) for any signs that may compromise the end goal of development—a ‘normal’ reproductive heterosexual monogamous adult.

Yhden äänen muotokuvia : Queer-luentoja Marguerite Yourcenarin teoksista

The present dissertation belongs to the tradition of queer theoretical and feminist literary scholarship. The study deals with the literary works of Marguerite Yourcenar (1903-1987), who was the first woman ever to be elected to the French Academy. The study seeks to lead an acclaimed classical French author into a dialogue with the characteristically Anglo-American queer theory and American tradition of queering Lacanian psychoanalysis. Queering the psychoanalytic notions of homosexuality and the categories of perversion and pervert will be elaborated in the present study. The main corpus of the scrutiny consists of five pieces of fiction written in French by Yourcenar. The first person narration and especially récit genre maintain a narrative strategy that the study explores with reference to the representations of non-normative genders and sexualities. Analyzing various radically queer aspects of Yourcenar's texts, the study focuses on the topical questions of masculinity in men, women, and texts. The study also discusses the representations of sexual desire between men, and the various constructions of male homosexuality in Yourcenar's fiction. The present study addresses Yourcenar's fiction from the points of view of female masculinity and textual female masculinity. The investigation finds its study questions and methodology in the area of queer studies, especially queer theoretical literary scholarship and the queer history and historiography of sexuality. That is why the study approaches Yourcenar's fiction in the context of historical and literary representations of male homosexual love and desire. The articulation of the closet, or textual and discursive strategies of sexual secrecy especially concerning male homosexuality, is simultaneously constructed and deconstructed in Yourcenar's fiction, as the analysis indicates. The study analyzes the Yourcenarian queer textual strategies with reference to concepts such as the epistemology and rhetoric of the closet, and the structure of the open secret as a part of the rhetoric of queer or non-straight sexuality. The present investigation puts the queer, non-normative representations of gender and sexuality in the centre of the Yourcenarian oeuvre and studies, ascertaining the strong bond between Yourcenar's work and the history, tradition, and the modern strategies of representing male homosexuality and queerness.

Ei ole miestä eikä naista : Queer-luenta keskiajan Euroopassa tunnettuja ristiinpukeutuvia pyhimyksiä kuvaavista teksteistä

Tarkastelen työssäni sitä, mitä ja miten myöhäisantiikin ja keskiajan Euroopassa liikkuneista ristiinpukeutuvista ja muuten sukupuolirajoja rikkoneista pyhimyksistä on kirjoitettu. Nostan näistä pyhimyksistä esille erityisesti Teklan, Marinan/Margareetan, Eufrosynen ja Wilgefortisin. Sovellan heidän legendoihinsa ja legendoista tehtyihin tulkintoihin queer-luentaa. Kysyn, miten pyhimysten sukupuoli on nähty ja millaisia kysymyksiä siihen liittyen on kysytty - ja mitä jätetty kysymättä - modernissa tutkimuskirjallisuudessa. Tarkastelen erityisesti, millaisia sukupuolen ylittämisen ja sukupuolettomuuden mahdollisuuksia tutkijat ovat legendoista löytäneet, ja kokeilen, mitä uusia tai toisenlaisia mahdollisuuksia oma luentani tuo esille. Käsittelen aihepiiriä koskevaa aiempaa tutkimusta paitsi osana pyhimyslegendojen tulkintahistoriaa myös tuoreina toisintoina legendoista. Queer toimii työssäni sekä näkökulmana että lukutapana. Queer-näkökulman ytimessä on ajatus sukupuolen performatiivisuudesta: sukupuoli on ilmiönä yhtäältä merkityksellisten tekojen ja eleiden toistoa ja toisaalta selviytymisstrategia. Ajatus sukupuolesta selviytymisstrategiana viittaa siihen, miten ihminen elää sekä kulttuuristen normien vaikutuksen alla että niihin vaikuttaen ja uusia merkityksiä antaen. Performatiivinen käsitys sukupuolesta kyseenalaistaa modernin sukupuolikäsityksen, jonka Judith Butler kiteyttää heteroseksuaalisen matriisin käsitteeseen. Queer-luennalla etsin ja täytän uudelleen sellaisia teksteistä löytyviä aukkoja ja analysoin sellaisia riitasointuja, jotka kertovat heteroseksuaalisesta matriisista. Lukutapani on sukua fenomenologisen sulkeistamisen harjoitukselle. Luentaani voi kuvata kokeilevaksi, erityisen sukupuoli- ja seksuaalisensitiiviseksi sosiaalisen konstruktionismin ajatuksiin perustuvaksi lähiluvuksi. Yhtenä lähtökohtana luennalleni on ajatus, että menneisyyden tuominen postmodernin läheisyyteen voi tuoda uutta valoa sekä menneisyyteen että postmoderniin. Työni sijoittuu uskontotieteen ja queer-tutkimuksen kenttien välillä paikkaan, jota ei ole Suomessa aikaisemmin kokeiltu. Teklan, Marinan/Margareetan, Eufrosynen ja Wilgefortisin legendoista nousee työssäni esille erityisesti neljä teologista Kristukseen liittyvää teemaa: kaste Kristukseen pukeutumisena, Kristuksen sukupuolittaminen, mieheksi tuleminen edellytyksenä Kristuksen seuraamiselle ja askeesi Kristuksen ruumiillisena imitoimisena. Queer-luennassani nämä teemat tarkentuvat ja osoittautuvat tärkeiksi tulkinta-avaimiksi ristiinpukeutuvien pyhimysten legendoihin. Nämä tulkinta-avaimet, queer sekä taustatiedot keskiajan sukupuolikäsityksistä valottavat sekä toinen toisiaan että työni kohdetta. Yhdessä ne tuovat esille kysymyksiä, jotka ovat aiemmassa tutkimuksessa jääneet yleensä kysymättä. Erityisesti queer-luentani nostaa esille kysymyksen sukupuolettomuuden mahdollisuudesta. Aiemmissa tutkimuksissa sukupuolen ylittäminen ohitetaan "tosiasiassa mahdottomana" asiana. Queer-luennassani kuitenkin näkyy, että sukupuolettomuus ei ole vain mahdollista, vaan myös uskonnollisesti erityisen merkityksellinen olemisen tapa. Työni perusteella sukupuolen ambivalenssi ja sukupuolettomuus voidaan lukea marginaalin sijasta aivan kristinuskon ytimeen. Myös Kristuksen hahmoa voidaan - ja ristiinpukeutuvien pyhimysten kohdalla kannattaa - katsoa nimenomaan kulttuuristen sukupuolirajojen ylittämisen kautta. Pyhimysten vaatteiden vaihtamisen voi lukea mieheksi naamioitumisen sijaan (sukupuoleltaan ambivalenttiin tai kokonaan sukupuolettomaan) Kristukseen pukeutumisena ja sitä kautta sukupuolesta riisuutumisena tai lapsen sukupuolettomaan tilaan jäämisenä. Queer-näkökulmasta voi puhua performatiivisesta sukupuolettomuudesta.