Global Sexual Politics (GEN370)

How and why is the global an important lens for understanding sexual and gender politics in their contemporary and historical manifestations? This course will address this question by engaging with scholarship that details the dynamics of, on the one hand, the global growth in progressive movements, ideologies, and political rights and scholarship on LGBTQI+ diversities and rights in recent decades, and their rising counter-movements on the other: transnational, well-organized campaigns that resist LGBTQI+ rights and that are based on morally conservative and traditional values, oftentimes centring religious and national identities. . The course engages with some of the top scholarship in this fast-expanding interdisciplinary field, and students will thus be encouraged to explore and understand diverse forms of social life and perspectives in contemporary world politics.

Specific focus will be on 1) the formation of sexual subjectivities and collective mobilizations in a critical historical and global context, 2) key theories and methodologies of ‘queer’ and gender diverse experiences, and 3) case studies of the contentious politics of border-crossing broadly conceived, e.g. symbolically, geographically, and categorically.

By engaging with these topics, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the urgency of gender and sexual politics in a global perspective, enable them to reflect deeply on a diverse range of case studies, and gain vital analytical tools to consider their impact on academic research and knowledge regimes as well as contemporary and historical struggles for (and against) justice, equity and recognition.

There will have to be a minimum of 20 registered students (GEN370 and GEN570 combined) by August 20 for the course to run autumn 2025.

Knowledge

• Knowledge about key concepts, contexts, and differences.
• Knowledge about theoretical perspectives on comparative, global topics related to interdisciplinary, critical sexuality studies.
• Knowledge of the relationships between sexuality, gender, inequality and difference across historical periods and locations.

Skills

• Analyze and critically discuss how concepts such as gender and sexuality change across locations and temporalities.
• Critically assess different information sources and use this skill to structure and develop an academic argument.
• Apply relevant theories for analytical purposes.

Competences

• Ability to formulate your own opinion on debates about global genders and sexualities, using sources from inside and outside of this course.
• Ability to communicate research and perspectives, making oral and written presentations.
• Ability to apply relevant research knowledge critically across various contexts, inside and beyond the academy, as well as recognize and respond to them in professional and educational situations.
• Contribute towards the solutions for a sustainable society by explicitly addressing central Sustainable Development Goals, including inequity, minorities, environmental and climate crises, and embedding these perspectives in the course's interdisciplinary and global scholarship on gender and sexuality.

Ingen

Gender, culture and society: introduction to gender studies (GEN340), Gender, culture and society: Introduction to gender studies (GEN540)

Class attendance: at least 60%, Group work and presentation, Mid-term essay

Coursework requirements

There are three coursework requirements for this course:

• A mid-term essay (ca 600 words) on a topic determined by the instructor. It will be evaluated according to a Complete/Incomplete grade.
• Class Attendance: at least 60%.
• Group work and presentation: Students will work in smaller groups on assignments related to a course theme and present their positions and findings in at least one class presentation.

Failure to pass these compulsory assignments will disqualify the student from taking the final exam.

The course consists of weekly sessions. These sessions will include lectures, seminars, group work and individual work adapted to different modes of study. All students are expected to read the syllabus and participate in group discussions and thereby develop analytic reflections in a productive environment with fellow students. This will be done on and off campus and the course coordinator will facilitate a digital learning platform (Canvas). The working language for this course is English.

The literature for this course consists of a collection of articles and book chapters to be found in Leganto. Information about the article collection can be found on Canvas before the start of the course. Any changes to the curriculum will be announced on Canvas before the start of the course. The curriculum consists of approximately 800 pages.

All students with study rights at UiS, including international students.

This course can be taken as a part of the Minor in Gender Studies (30ECTS)

General university admissions certification (GSK).

The faculty decides whether early dialogue will be held in all courses or in selected groups of courses. The aim is to collect student feedback for improvements during the semester. In addition, a digital course evaluation must be conducted at least every three years to gather students’ experiences.

Book Introduction to LGBTQ+ studies a cross-disciplinary approach Deborah P. Amory, Sean G Massey, Albany, State University of New York Press, vii, 502 sider, [2022]; ©2022, isbn:9781438491707, The introduction chapter by Joseph Russo “Global Sexualities: LGBTQ+ anthropology, past, present and future” is core reading, but the whole book is recommended background reading. View online Website Sexual Politics in 2022: Retrospective Sonia Corrêa, Nana Soares and Fábio Grotz, Sexuality Policy Watch, 2023,

For week 1.This website with its many links and further references, is intended as a resource site to provide a thematic and general introduction to the course topic: Global sexual politics.

View online Newspaper Article How globalisation has transformed the fight for LGBTQ rights Gevisser, Mark, The Guardian, 16 June 2020,

Background reading, esp. for week 1.

View online Article The Gender Binary Is a Tool of White Supremacy Kravitz Marshall, Medium, 2020,

Background reading, esp. for week 1, as well as for the first part of the course with a history focus.

View online Article This Is Wrong: Judith Butler on Executive Order 14168 Judith Butler, London Review of Books, 6, 47, 2025,

Background reading. 

View online Article Gender Trolling: Digital Manosphere and Misogyny in China Sara Liao, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 2025, View online Newspaper Article Protecting All Students Requires Listening to Them: Reflections on the Implementation of Ohio’s Anti-Trans ‘Bathroom Bill’ Christa Craven, Ms Magazine, 2025, View online Newspaper Article Books in Dumpsters, But Ideas Thrive: The Resilient Legacy of New College of Florida Christa Craven, Ms Magazine, 2024,

Suggested companion read to week 7

View online Website ILGA-Europe Rainbow Map 2025 ILGA Europe,

For week 1 seminar

View online Website ILGA World Monitor ILGA, 2025,

For week 1 seminar.

View online Article The unexpected politics of ILGA-Europe’s rainbow maps: (de)constructing queer utopias/dystopias Ammaturo, Francesca Romana ; Slootmaeckers, Koen, 3-25, European Journal of Politics and Gender, 1, 8, 2025-02, 3-25,

further reading for those with a special interest in this topic

View online Article Global Identities: Theorizing Transnational Studies of Sexuality Grewal, Inderpal ; Kaplan, Caren, DURHAM, Duke University Press, 663-679, GLQ, 4, 7, 2001, 663-679, View online Book Chapter The World's Pink Lines Mark Gevisser, Gevisser, Mark,, The World's Pink Lines, London :, Profile Books, 1 volume ;, 2021., 17-41, isbn:9781788165150, Article Introduction: Left of queer David L. Eng; Jasbir K. Puar, Social Text, 38, 2020-12-1, View online Article Getting Disciplined: What's Trans About Queer Studies Now? Keegan, Cáel M., ABINGDON, Routledge, 384-397, Journal of homosexuality, 3, 67, 2020-02-23, 384-397, View online Article Heterosexualism and the Colonial/Modern Gender System LUGONES, MARÍA, Oxford, UK, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 186-219, Hypatia, 1, 22, 2007-01-01, 186-219, View online Article Beyond the Americas: Are Gender and Sexuality Useful Categories of Analysis? Najmabadi, Afsaneh, Johns Hopkins University Press, 11-21, Journal of women's history, 1, 18, 2006, 11-21, View online Website Imane Khelif: Refusing the Violent Fiction of Binary Gender Pandit, Niharika, The Contrapuntal, 8 August, 2024, View online Article Transpinay: Genealogy of a term David, Emmanuel, THOUSAND OAKS, SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC, 136346072110245-, Sexualities, 0, 2021-07-19, 136346072110245-17, View online Video Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria Susan Stryker, 57 mins., View online Article Transgender History, Homonormativity, and Disciplinarity Stryker, Susan, DURHAM, Duke University Press, 144-157, Radical history review, 100, 2008-01-01, 144-157, View online Book Chapter Gayness between nation builders and money makers: From ideology to new essentialism Sörberg, Anna-Maria, Gayness between nation builders and money makers: From ideology to new essentialism, 89-101, View online Article (Re)visualizing Black lesbian lives, (trans)masculinity, and township space in the documentary work of Zanele Muholi Imma, Z'étoile, England, Routledge, 219-241, Journal of lesbian studies, 2, 21, 2017-04-03, 219-241, View online Book Chapter Performance and Textuality: Zanele Muholi’s Faces and Phases Exhibition as Visual Archive Elliot James, Performance and Textuality: Zanele Muholi’s Faces and Phases Exhibition as Visual Archive, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY :, Routledge, 2025, 203-211, isbn:9781032655819, Website Art in the Twenty-First Century --- Zanele Muholi in "Johannesburg" Art21, View online Article Anti-gender Politics in Queer Times: “Genderismus” and Norwegian Homonationalism Evang, Jenny A. M., Lambda Nordica, 3-4, 27, 2022, 102-128, View online Book Chapter Scientizing Gender? An Examination of Anti-Gender Campaigns on Social Media, Norway Engebretsen, Elisabeth L., Scientizing Gender? An Examination of Anti-Gender Campaigns on Social Media, Norway, Switzerland, Springer International Publishing AG, 2022, 185-206, isbn:3030975347, View online Article Unnatural feelings The affective life of 'anti-gender' mobilisations Hemmings, Clare, LONDON, Radical Philosophy, 27-39, Radical philosophy, 209, 2020-12-01, 27-39, View online Article The ‘new’ trans population: An exploration of the uses and abuses of autism Maddox, Rowan, London, England, SAGE Publications, 292-310, The European journal of women's studies, 3, 32, 2025-08, 292-310, View online Video Can't Stop Change: Queer Climate Stories from the Florida Frontlines Co-directors: Vanessa Raditz, Natalia Villarán-Quiñones, Yarrow Koning, Jess Martínez,and Shoog McDaniel , 2024,

This documentary film will be screened in class

View online Book Chapter Out of the closets and into the climate! Queer feminist climate justice Gaard, Greta, Kum-Kum Bhavnani, Out of the closets and into the climate! Queer feminist climate justice, London, Zed Books, XXIX, 335 sider, 2019, 92-104, isbn:9781786997814 (hbk.) :; 9781786997821 (pbk.) :, Book Chapter Climate justice must be anti-patriarchal, or it will not be systemic Acha, Majandra R., John Foran (editor.), Climate justice must be anti-patriarchal, or it will not be systemic, London, Zed Books, XXIX, 335 sider, 2019, 246-252, isbn:9781786997814 (hbk.) :; 9781786997821 (pbk.) :, View online Book Chapter Look to Norway? Queer(y)ing the Potential for Coalitional Solidarity in Building Climate-Just Futures Engebretsen, Elisabeth L., Elisabeth L. Engebretsen, Look to Norway? Queer(y)ing the Potential for Coalitional Solidarity in Building Climate-Just Futures, Berghahn, February 2025, 1-20, Website Queering climate justice – what climate justice can learn from queer groups Thazin Aung, May, IIED – International Institute for Environment and Development, 21 September, 2023, View online Website Why there can be no climate justice without queer justice: Explained in 6 blogs Greenpeace, 2024, View online Book Chapter Queer Life in the Pandemic Taylor, Yvette,, Queer Life in the Pandemic, Pluto Press, 1 online resource (208 p.), 2023, 42-61, isbn:1-78680-808-0; 1-78680-807-2, View online Book COVID-19 assemblages : queer and feminist ethnographies from South Asia Niharika Banerjea, Paul Boyce and Rohit K Dasgupta(editor.), London ; New York, New York :; London ; New York, New York :, Routledge, 1 online resource (209 pages), [2022]; ©2022, isbn:1-00-326225-2; 1-000-54751-5; 1-000-54747-7; 1-003-26225-2, Chapters: 1) Adnan Hossain and 2) Borisa, Dhiren and Gavin Brown. View online Article The Pandemic of Racist Capitalism Killed My Neighbor Di Wang, Stockholm, Foereningen Lambda Nordica, 117-, Lambda nordica, 2, 25, 2020-01-01, 117 View online Book Cruising Utopia : The Then and There of Queer Futurity Muñoz, Jose Esteban, Ann Pellegrini (Verfasser eines Vorworts./), New York, New York University Press, 1 online resource (229 pages)., 2019; ©2019, isbn:1-4798-6878-7, Read preface + Introduction + select chapters (TBD) View online Article 'Now I Am Not Afraid': Simon Nkoli, Queer Utopias and Transnational Solidarity Martin, Yasmina, ABINGDON, Routledge, 673-687, Journal of southern African studies, 4, 46, 2020-07-03, 673-687, View online Blog Killjoy Truths Sara Ahmed, 2023, View online Book Chapter Queer (Re)generations: Disrupting Apocalypse time Weiss, Margot., Queer (Re)generations: Disrupting Apocalypse time, Durham :, Duke University Press, 1 online resource (345 pages), 2024.; ©2024., 266-282, isbn:1-4780-5940-0, View online

The course description is retrieved from FS (Felles studentsystem). Version 1