Anarchy / Fag ?
Are you interested in partcipating in a book project?
Check this out.
This isn’t affiliated with QPDX but i thought it interesting.
A lot more under the cut.
Radical queer politics and anarchism have much in common. Queer theory argues
against traditional identity politics, recognizing the social construction of
“sexuality” and identity categories. Anarchism argues against any structured
hierarchical arrangement of humanity that allows some members of society to
systematically exploit and oppress others. Thus, both projects argue
for a need to move beyond hierarchical and naturalized arrangements of socially constructed
identities–though, at times, articulating those arguments in different ways.
Nevertheless, despite these commonalities, little has been written
about the deep connections between anarchism and radical queer politics. This edited
volume is an attempt to fill that gap.
With this book, the authors wish to assemble writings that are useful
to activists (i.e. not written in obscure academic jargon and relatable to social movement
contexts) working in the intersections of queer and anarchist politics. Many
anarchists use the term “queer” as shorthand for the LGBT community
and have little understanding of what queer theory can provide for a contemporary
radical praxis and how it differs from traditional LGBT politics—even some radical
strands. Likewise, there are many among the queer community who know little to nothing about anarchism—relying mostly on the sensationalist news medias’ construction of
anarchists as terrorists, anti-organizationalists, etc. This volume, then, will
attempt to address some of those misunderstandings, while drawing connections
between queer and anarchist politics.
Interested authors should send a small abstract (just a paragraph
explaining exactly what it is you wish to do) along with your name and brief bio (100
words or less, please) by March 1st, 2010 to queeringanarchism@gmail.co
drafts to be due April 15th, 2010. Finished pieces will range from 2000 to 4000 words.
Below are some suggested questions and issues (feel free to come up with your own
fantastic topic too!):
What can anarchism learn from queer theory? What could queer theory learn from
anarchism? How do queer politics relate to class struggle, anti-racism, feminism,
post-colonialism, etc.? Can queer theory be meaningful in movements if
it remains written in academic jargon? What might “street” queer theory look like
and how might it differ from the queer theory that emerges from the university?
Should we think of queer as something we are or something we do?
What does existing queer anarchist praxis look like? How would we queer current
anarchist praxis and what might emerge from that? What challenges have
you faced as a result of combining queer political practice with anarchist
involvement in social movements? What challenges go along with bringing anarchist political
practice into existing queer groups?
Have you had personal experiences of marginalization within the
anarchist community for your queer politics? Have you been ignored among the queer
community because of your commitment to anarchism? Have you had good experiences combining anarchist and queer activism? What made you feel marginalized or good in those
contexts and how can we use those experiences as a catalyst for creating more inclusive
movements? How have ideologies of normalcy affected your activism within the anarchist
community? How have expectations of ideological normalcy limited the field of
politics in queer groups in your experience?
