Sexual Democracy in Culturalist Times.
| Datum | vrijdag 27 september 2013 |
|---|---|
| Tijd | 18:00 – 19:00 uur |
| Faculteit | Sociale Wetenschappen |
| Locatie | FSW Lectureroom 1A-09 |
Sexual Democracy in Culturalist Times.
Europe is witnessing a wave of aversion to (public) Islam. Recent examples include legal measures against the (face) veil in France and Belgium; the constitutional ban on minarets in Switzerland, the recent eruption of anti-Islam and anti-immigrant rhetoric in Germany; the rise of the anti-Muslim populist right in the Netherlands. Islam is framed as the “other” of Europe, and as such plays a pivotal role in the political and popular reinvention of European nationalisms. In this presentation I will speak about the impressive role played by the rhetoric of ‘sexual democracy’ in these dynamics. Gay and women’s sexual and civil rights feature prominently in many public discussions and controversies concerning immigration and the presence of Muslims in Europe. My presentation will concentrate on the Netherlands, where the entanglement of sexual democracy with neonationalism is especially salient. The Dutch seem to imagine themselves as universally and eternally ‘homo-tolerant’, while homophobia and sexual conservatism are recast as the unique possessions of immigrants and their children, especially Muslims. This shift in the social location of gay politics demands that we rethink the social analysis of sex and the relationship between sexuality, nationalism and morality.
After the lecture we will move to Stadscafé van der Werff for drinks and a chat.