Register at bit.ly…

Recent decades have seen an increased mobilization of sexual and reproductive rights in nationalist projects of (non-)belonging across the globe. In this context, Scandinavian countries have often been cast as exceptionally progressive with regard to gender equality and LGBTQ rights. This talk explores discursive constructions of Sweden as a particularly good place to be queer in, and the implications these notions of “gender-exceptional Swedishness” have for the livability of queer lives. It looks at how constructions of Swedishness rely on various notions of dangerous and racialized Others, investigates which subject positions are suggested and experienced as “intelligible” within the context of these constructions, and discusses how such normative grids of intelligibility are negotiated as racialized LGBTQ people challenge and maneuver them.


Katharina Kehl (Gender Studies, Independent Scholar) researches the role played by gender, sexuality, and race in nationalist politics of (non-)belonging, focusing on Scandinavian contexts. She teaches feminist and queer theory and methodology as well as norm-critical approaches to healthcare. Katharina has a background as an LGBTQ educator.

Co-Sponsored by the Departments of German Studies, and French & Italian Studies..