Why (Queer) History Matters: The Politics of History (video 2 of 3)
International, interdisciplinary conference, 29-30 August 2022, at the University of Bergen.
Neglect and erasure of queer history has been the norm in all national histories until quite recently. In this conference we address how this highly problematic practice of history can also enable the eradication of LGBT+ rights in contemporary societies. For, in some places LGBT communities are seen as a national threat while in others, homo-tolerance is instrumentalized to build national self-identity. In both cases, interest in and knowledge of queer history is usually absent. In this conference we therefore ask: How are national histories cleansed of unwanted elements? What role does ignorance and censorship play? Can the lack of knowledge of queer history be fundamental to contemporary oppression of queers? If so, what can be done to preserve and disseminate queer histories?
In this conference we hear reflections and examples on how and why queer history matters in different contexts. Norway officially opened its national queer archive here in Bergen in 2015, and queer history is slowly starting to appear as a legitimate academic field in line with other academic fields of research also in Norway.
CHAIR:
Andrea Vige Grønningsæter, PhD candidate at the Faculty of Law, University of Bergen
Queer archives and activism in India by Jayna Kothari, Executive Director at Centre for Law & Policy Research and Akkai Padmashali, Indian transgender activist
White words & violence: A queer African herstory by C. Anzio Jacobs, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Scope Non-Profit Organisation, South Africa
Queer history in the USA. The development of trans history and the uses of transgender history for the present by Susan Stryker, Professor Emerita of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Arizona & Stanford University Humanities Center External Faculty Fellow (2022-23)
Panel discussion: Trans histories in a global perspective
Participants: Jayna Kothari, Akkai Padmashali, C. Anzio Jacobs and Susan Stryker
Chair: Angana P. Chatterji, Research Anthropologist at the Center for Race and Gender at University of California, Berkeley
00:00 Welcome, day two
03:59 intro Jayna Kothari
05:32 Jayna Kothari, Centre for Law & Policy Research
25:09 intro Akkai Padmashali
26:39 Akkai Padmashali, transgender activist
38:27 intro C. Anzio Jacobs
40:12 C. Anzio Jacobs, Scope Non-Profit
01:15:52 intro Susan Stryker
01:16:53 Susan Stryker, Professor Emerita
01:53:40 Panel discussion: Trans histories in a global perspective