210149 SE M8bG8/F/G6/G1: SE SpezialisierungsSE: Sexuality and difference (2011S)

Sexuality and difference in the context of globalized neoliberal economies

Difference as cultural capital is the formula used to design diversity politics that embrace of all kinds of social differences as long as they comply with the demands of economic utility. Post-Fordist approaches to difference, be it bio-political regulations or commercial media representations, express this by proliferating socio-economic space for and cultural imagery of artfully managing difference and creating a singular individuality. Is sexuality of specific interest in the field of diversity politics? And if so, why? How is sexuality deployed? How does it function in globalized neoliberal economies? The seminar is built upon the premise that global capitalism is not a monolith; rather, there exist diverse capitalisms and diverse economies. For instance, economic practices in the fields of migration and diasporas, subcultural economies, gift and barter economies and cooperative economies do not all conform to the capitalist logics. Yet, in how far do the notions of heteronormativity and capitalism have to be problematized as eurocentric or occidentalist? How is sexual injustice in the global South instrumentalised to enable the self-constitution of the West as ‘progressive’ and thereby consolidate its hegemonic position?

The seminar will be based on literature by: Lisa Duggan, Gayatri Spivak, J.K. Gibson-Graham, Chela Sandoval, Gayatri Menon, S. Charusheela et al. For more details see below (Literatur)