From Orientalism to Homonationalism: Queer Politics, Islamophobia and Europeanization in Kosovo

Abstract

This paper investigates the convergence of European Union enlargement strategies and queer politics in the production of Islamophobia in Kosovo. Through a reading of recent homophobic attacks in Kosovo, it examines how the incorporation of lgbti politics into the eu enlargement assemblages generate a representational praxis of queer communities in Kosovo under threat by Muslim extremists. This paper proposes that the Europeanization of lgbti rights depoliticizes queer communities and singles them out for protection as victims of Islamic fundamentalism by creating binary and exclusionary Queer/Islam divisions that prevent the emergence of intersectional solidarities and subjectivities such as queer and Muslim. In this context, European financed ‘coming out’ projects gain a new meaning in Kosovo, one where the promotion of visibility for certain queer subjects works simultaneously to expose Muslim ‘extremists’. Queer acceptance in Islamophobic times, then, becomes the ultimate test of who can and cannot become European citizen.

Conceptualizing homonationalism: (Re‐)Formulation, application, and debates of expansion

“…For example, the definition of being "Modern European" is linked to the promotion of LGBTQ + equality, and friendliness toward LGBTQ + individuals has become a core part of establishing European Union identity (Slootmaeckers, 2019a). Who is and is not "European" thus reflects political stances, and this sorting simultaneously works as part of an Othering process that fits within broader homonationalist projects as outlined above (Slootmaeckers, 2019a(Slootmaeckers, , 2019b; see also Rexhepi, 2016). However, others have noted that although…”

Homonationalism in Europe? A Quantitative Comparison of the Values of Europeans

“…In one of these Robert Kulpa observes a division between Eastern and Western Europe, highlighting how Eastern Europe is framed as permanently backward and homophoic, whereas Western Europe is constructed as tolerant and open minded, and with educator function (2014b): we will check of this east-west division can also be observed considering values. How far European institutions are involved in a homonationalist project is a question which is dealt with in three articles (Rexhepi, 2016;Ammaturo, 2015;Kahlina, 2015), two of them working especially on Eastern European countries and their relationship with the European institutions (Rexhepi, 2016;Kahlina, 2015).…”

“…Some works are based on audiovisual analysis (Cherry, 2018;Szulc & Smets, 2015;Nebeling Petersen & Myong, 2015;MacCann, 2015), others on analysis of the press (Jungar & Peltonen, 2017;Travers & Shearman, 2017;Serykh, 2017). Some deal with pride parades and the LGBTQ+ and/or supporters' communities (Kehl, 2018;Yildiz, 2017;Szulc, 2016;Ammaturo, 2016;Rexhepi, 2016;Sadurní Balcells & Pujol Tarrés, 2015;Hubbard & Wilkinson, 2015;Kulpa, 2014a;Bracke, 2012;Jirvraj & de Jong, 2011) and urban spaces (Mepschen, 2016;Hubbard & Wilkinson, 2015).…”

“…LGBTQ+ for example in teacher education (Reimers, 2017), textbooks (Rothing & Svendsen, 2011) or sports (Travers & Shearman, 2017;Hubbard & Wilkinson, 2015;Bury, 2015), but also other policies in less delimited areas (Yildiz, 2017;Rexhepi, 2016;Mepschen, 2016;Hubbard & Wilkinson, 2015;Kulpa, 2014b;Santos, 2013).…”

Imperial inventories, “illegal mosques” and institutionalized Islam: Coloniality and the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina

“…Indeed, the recognition of Muslims in the Balkans as European after the Cold War and their demarcation for inclusion into the EU has been contiguous with the exclusion of migrant/Muslim/Middle Eastern others from the European border imaginary (Rexhepi 2016(Rexhepi , 2017. The troubling presence of the Arab/Islamist/Middle Eastern in the Balkans has been a constant conundrum in EU expansion in the Balkans.…”