Queer Politics in Contemporary Turkey

Description

Drawing on the words and stories of queer Turkish activists, this book aims to unravel the complexities of queer lives in Turkey. In doing so, it challenges dominant conceptualizations of the queer Turkish experience within critical security discourses. Taking a unique interdisciplinary and intersectional approach to International Relations, this book contains rich empirical data including 30 interviews with LGBTQ politicians, non-profit leaders, activists and community members to give voice to those unheard in Western academic discourses. Aiming to unravel the complexities of queer lives in Turkey, this book uses the words and stories of queer Turkish activists to challenge dominant conceptualisations of the queer Turkish experience within critical security discourses. The book argues that while queer Turks are subjected to insatiate forms of insecurity in their governance, opportunities for emancipatory resistance have emerged alongside these abuses. In doing so, the book identifies the ways in which the state, the family, Turkish Islam and other socially-meditated processes and agencies can expose or protect queers from violence in the Turkish community.

Paul Gordon Kramer is a queer activist and works at The New School in New York City.

"Kramer illuminates how queer and trans activists are reshaping conceptions of Turkish queerness on their own terms. His reflections about being a queer researcher in International Relations are especially engaging." Jamie J. Hagen, Queen's University Belfast "Kramer thoughtfully brings to light the complexities of queer and trans Turkish lives and experiences in relation to social and political institutions of power in Turkey." Ahmad Qais Munhazim, Thomas Jefferson University