210075 SE BAK14: Gender and Politics (2022W)

The heteronormative structuring of many societies on the basis of the binary gender system man/woman, male/female, heterosexual/homosexual etc. is not given by nature, timeless and universal. The shaping of gender relations is also subject to (post-)coloniality. In this seminar, we will take a closer look at the intersectional interaction of gender/hetero-patriarchal and (post-)colonial power relations through various thematic fields such as sexuality, family/kinship, nationalism/nation, state/(human) rights, capitalism and environment, media and mobilities. Our focus is on understanding the oppressive and exploitative contexts of racist, neoliberal-capitalist and sexist relations of dominance on the one hand, and on breaking down these relations and designing together what decolonizations of gender might look like on the other.

The seminar is structured in such a way that in the first units we work together on the theoretical basics (What does coloniality/postcoloniality/decoloniality mean?; What does the coloniality of gender mean?; definitions of sexuality and heteronormativity; discussion of social reproduction and care) on which our work later builds. Later in the seminar, we will apply these basics to the different thematic fields in order to uncover, critique and reimagine hierarchical and exploitative power relations. In doing so, we will attempt to bring white and Black (queer) feminist writers into dialogue with each other through the texts we discuss.

We will work in the seminar with small group work as well as with joint discussions in plenary and written submissions. You will get short content inputs from myself or through podcasts/videos, through which other scholars and/or activists will also have their say. Since we cannot yet predict how the pandemic situation will develop in the course of the fall, we unfortunately cannot yet determine the format in which our course will take place (face-to-face, hybrid, online). During the course of the semester, we will regularly talk together about what needs and wishes there are in this regard right now and how we can best design a setting in which everyone feels comfortable and as safe as possible.

The working language is mainly German, but all participants are invited to bring in other languages. If German is a language barrier for people, we will find another solution, for example with English, if that is possible, or with (whisper) translations. In addition, it is possible to provide written sub-services in German, English or French.

We will provide all materials as low-threshold and barrier-free as possible and ask all participants to do the same. If you have special needs in this regard, please contact me before the start of the seminar.

This seminar is not about finding the "right" answers to predefined questions, rather we want to develop and discuss the relevant questions for us in the first place, according to the concept of learning from and with each other. So-called mistakes and failures are part of the collective learning process and very welcome. This also refers to the design of the seminar. Over the semester we will therefore discuss possible difficulties and reproduced hierarchies in the LV setting again and again.

There will be an accompanying writing assistance program as part of this seminar. This means that in addition to feedback on the content of your written submissions, you will also receive feedback from professional writing trainers regarding your process of academic writing.