Conference

Why (Queer) History Matters: The Politics of History

International, interdisciplinary conference, 29–30 August 2022.

In this conference we hear reflections and examples on how and why queer history matters in different contexts.

Photo:

Cencorship by Eric Drooker

Main content

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.

PROGRAMME

29 August

10:00	Registration. Possibility of guided tour in the queer history exhibition at the University Museum of Bergen
11:00	Welcome by Margareth Hagen, Rector at the University of Bergen
CHAIR:	Bjørn Enge Bertelsen, Professor of Social Anthropology and Academic Director of the Holberg Prize, University of Bergen
11:10	Norway & the queer history context – the Norwegian Queer archive by Tone Hellesund, Professor of Cultural Studies, University of Bergen
11:45	Lunch and poster session
12:45	The roots of Russian homophobia, and why historical research matters by Dan Healey, Professor of Russian History, University of Oxford
13:15	Break
13:30	Queer history and neoliberal Islam by Evren Savci, Assistant Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Yale University
14:00	Postsocialist homophobia and the lesson of histories past, present, and future by Hadley Z. Renkin, Assistant Professor in Gender Studies, Central European University
14:30	Break
15:00	Roundtable: Culture wars and queer history Chair: Ingunn Lunde, Professor in Russian Language and Culture, University of Bergen
17:30– 18:30	Conference reception at KODE, hosted by the City of Bergen (for all participants) Welcome by the Mayor of Bergen, Rune Bakervik
19:30– 21:30	Roundtable: How to document and tell queer history? Chair: Kari Jegerstedt, Head of the Centre for Women’s and Gender Research, University of Bergen Public event at The House of Literature in collaboration with Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF) (not streamed). Screening of Susan Stryker’s film Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria (57 minutes) followed by a roundtable discussion involving Susan Stryker, Hadley Renkin, C. Anzio Jacobs, Dan Healey, Svati Shah.

30 August

09:00	Queer archives and activism in India by Jayna Kothari, Executive Director at Centre for Law & Policy Research and Akkai Padmashali, Indian transgender activist
09:40	White words & violence: A queer African herstory by C. Anzio Jacobs, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Scope Non-Profit Organisation, South Africa
10:10	Break
10:20	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)
10:50	Roundtable: Trans histories in a global perspective Chair: Siri Gloppen, Professor of Comparative Politics and Director of the Centre on Law and Social Transformation, University of Bergen
12:00	Lunch and poster session
CHAIR:	Ana Côrtes, PhD candidate at the Centre on Law and Social Transformation, University of Bergen
13:00	The politics of sexuality in Latin America by Javier Corrales, Professor of Political Science at Amherst College
13:30	Sexualities and the uses of history in different African contexts by Sylvia Tamale, Professor of Law, Makerere University
14:00	Mapping queerness in postcolonial South Asian worlds by Svati Shah, Associate Professor, Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst
14:30	Break
14:45	Roundtable: The promise and future of queer history making. Chair: Matt Cook, Professor of Modern History, Birkbeck, London University All speakers are welcome to attend this roundtable
16:30	Possibility of guided tours at the Queer history exhibitions at the University Museum of Bergen, University Library of Bergen or KODE Art Museum.