Affective Activism. The feeling of belonging in transgender communities

Affective Activism. The feeling of belonging in transgender communities

Zusammenfassung

Insbesondere im vergangenen Jahrzehnt haben transgender Aktivist*innen vermehrt auf weitverbreitete und vielfältige Formen der Diskriminierung von Trans* aufmerksam gemacht. In der Folge wurden vielerorts innovative rechtliche Regelungen für die Anerkennung des selbstbestimmten Geschlechts eingeführt. Das Projekt untersucht Transgender Aktivismus als soziale Bewegung mit dem Ziel, neuartige Formen politischer De/Mobilisation und alternativer Arten und Weisen der Bildung von Gemeinschaften von Aktivist*innen zu erörtern. Der Fokus auf darin beinhaltete Affekte und Emotionen bildet der Ausgangspunkt, um bisherige Auffassungen, was soziale Bewegungen, Gemeinschaften und politische Intervention sind, neu auszuloten.

Wissenschaftliches Abstract

This project titled 'Affective Activism. The feeling of belonging in transgender communities' examines the recent extensive transnational political activism of transgender people - those expressing variance from gender-conforming norms. Transgender persons are increasingly visible, with unprecedented media coverage of transitioning celebrities; gender-non-conforming characters and performers in mainstream culture; and rising social movements to end violence against gender-variant people. This has increased politicians’, legislators’, and the publics’ awareness of the challenges facing transgender persons, prompting the drafting or adoption of innovative legislation on gender recognition in various jurisdictions. From a social science perspective, the large-scale changes achieved by transgender activists and their allies are remarkable. This project explores such transgender activism, which swiftly expanded from predominantly local dimensions to increasingly global social movements with transnational impact. This project provides a general account of the force of affect and emotions in building activist communities and political mobilisation, and a particular account of social movements involving transgender people. Focusing on affective activism, this project thereby contributes to the reconsideration of existing notions of political mobilisation, activism, and social movements in the social and political sciences.