FEMST 250AI: Queer & Trans* Theory During Permanent War
Debanuj DasGupta
Spring 2024: Wednesdays 3-5:50
We live with unending wars and the consolidation of authoritarianism around the world. Queer and Trans* theory has historically been an Americanist project. Given the role of the US state in waging several wars around the world, this seminar raises questions such as what might it mean to think of queer & trans* theory simultaneously with ongoing wars around the world? Simultaneity with imperialism, colonialism, slavery and global capitalism was one of the cornerstone of the works of scholars such as W.E.B. Dubois. The seminar will revisit canonical texts of scholars such as W.E.B. Dubois, US women of color thinkers, along with contemporary queer and trans*of color materialisms that situate the bio-necropolitics of war along with questions of desire, debilities, sexualities, and gender identities.