Universität Wien
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240523 SE MM3 After Homo-Nationalism. Post-liberal regimes of sexuality and gender (2026W)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 24 - Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie
Continuous assessment of course work

Participation at first session is obligatory!

The lecturer can invite students to a grade-relevant discussion about partial achievements. Partial achievements that are obtained by fraud or plagiarized result in the non-evaluation of the course (entry 'X' in certificate). The plagiarism software 'Turnitin' will be used.
The use of AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT) for the attainment of partial achievements is only allowed if explicitly requested by the course instructor.
We 14.10. 09:45-13:00 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).
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Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Wednesday 28.10. 09:45 - 13:00 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
  • Wednesday 11.11. 09:45 - 13:00 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
  • Wednesday 25.11. 09:45 - 13:00 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
  • Wednesday 09.12. 09:45 - 13:00 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
  • Wednesday 13.01. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
  • Wednesday 27.01. 09:45 - 13:00 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

This seminar explores the concept of homonationalism by Jasbir K. Puar as a critical framework for analysing the ambivalent entanglements of sexuality, nationalism, race, liberalism, and authoritarianism. It asks how the concept works as an analytical tool in contemporary debates about queer inclusion, state power, and political belonging, and whether it remains useful for understanding current transformations in liberal and post-liberal contexts. The course combines conceptual reading, guided discussion, and structured debate, enabling students to develop their own arguments while engaging closely with key theoretical texts.

The seminar is organized around three core debates, each preceded by preparatory sessions and followed by a structured learning and take-away phase. Students take on rotating roles as core debaters, analysts, and evaluators, so that they learn to formulate arguments, identify assumptions and blind spots, and assess the strengths and limits of competing positions. The final session is dedicated to comparative synthesis and collective findings.

Assessment and permitted materials

Assessment is based on active participation in class, preparation of assigned roles, short written reflections or position papers, and a final synthesis task. Permitted materials during in-class debate and preparation include the assigned readings, personal notes, and any materials explicitly approved by the instructor for a given session. Students are expected to work with the readings critically and independently, while keeping their arguments grounded in the course literature.
Active participation in the course – group discussions, text preparations, etc. (25%)
Debates – prepare and deliver in a team of debaters, analysts, and evaluators, min. one role in one debate (25%)
Learning journal – four reflection essays of up to 500 words on learning (25%)
Short position paper – (2.000 words) (25% of the performance assessment)

Students are required to submit all partial assignments within the specified deadlines. All aids are permitted for the provision of all partial services that comply a) with the basic principles of good scientific practice, b) pass the plagiarism check, and c) comply with the AI guidelines of the department.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

To pass the course, students must attend regularly, participate actively, complete the assigned reading for the relevant sessions, and fulfill their role in at least one debate block. Assessment will take into account the clarity and analytical quality of contributions, the use of concepts from the reading list, the ability to respond to opposing arguments, and the quality of written reflections or the final synthesis. Strong performance will show not only correct understanding, but also independent judgment, textual precision, and the ability to connect theoretical claims to the seminar’s guiding questions.

Bi-Weekly participation and preparation of classes is compulsory. A total of two classes may be missed and students who don’t attend the first class will be deregistered.
All modalities of examination (active participation, interim presentations, reflection essays, seminar paper) must be completed positively to pass the course.

Highest achievable score: 100 points; 0-60 points: Not sufficient; 61-70 points: Sufficient; 71-80 points: Satisfactory; 81-90 points: Good; 91-100 points: Very Good

Examination topics

The examination topics cover the course’s central conceptual and political questions: the definition and development of homonationalism; the relationship between queer politics and nationalism; the role of liberal inclusion and exclusion; the transferability of the concept to authoritarian or post-liberal contexts; and the question of whether the framework still adequately explains contemporary queer politics. Students are expected to be able to discuss these topics using the course readings and the debates conducted in class.

Reading list

Adib, and Paul Emiljanowicz. 2019. “Colonial Time in Tension: Decolonizing Temporal Imaginaries.” Time & Society 28 (3): 1221–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961463X17718161.

Bacchetta, Paola. 2019. “Queer Presence In/and Hindu Nationalism.” In Majoritarian State: How Hindu Nationalism Is Changing India, edited by Angana P. Chatterji, Thomas B. Hansen, and Christophe Jaffrelot, 375–96. Oxford et al: Oxford University Press.

Bakshi, Sandeep, Suhraiya Jivraj, and Silvia Posocco, eds. 2016. Decolonizing Sexualities. Oxford: Counterpress.

Channell-Justice, Emily, ed. 2020. Decolonizing Queer Experience: LGBT+ Narratives from Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Lanham: Lexington Books an imprint of The Roman & Littlefield Publishing Group Inc.

Haritaworn, Jin, Adi Kuntsman, and Silvia Posocco, eds. 2014. Queer Necropolitics. Abingdon OX: Routledge.

Muñoz, José Esteban. (2009) 2019. Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity. 10th Anniversary Edition. New York: New York University Press.

Puar, Jasbir K. 2013. “Rethinking Homonationalism.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 45 (2): 336–39.

Puar, Jasbir K. (2007) 2017. Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times. Durham, London: Duke University Press.

Puar, Jasbir, and Shirin Deylami. 2023. “Forum on Rahul Rao’s Out of Time, Part II: Rethinking Homonationalisms.” Contexto int. 45 (3): 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0102-8529.20234503e20220007.

Rao, Rahul. 2020. Out of Time: The Queer Politics of Postcoloniality. Oxford Studies in Gender and International Relations. New York: Oxford University Press.

Shah, Alpa. 2024. “When Decolonization Is Hijacked.” American Anthropologist 126 (4): 553–66. https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.28021.

Upadhyay, Nishant. 2020. “Hindu Nation and Its Queers: Caste, Islamophobia, and De/coloniality in India.” Interventions 22 (4): 464–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369801X.2020.1749709.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Th 03.09.2026 14:47