On the Importance of Queer Scholarship in Times of War

Abstract

On the Importance of Queer Scholarship in Times of War THIS EDITORIAL IS written at a time when media outlets all over the world are dominated by details of the humanitarian crisis brought on by the Russian invasion of and war on Ukraine, and the ensuing political conversations about what constitutes foundational concepts like democracy, nation, peace, security, state accountability and responsibility.In feminist and queer academia and activist movements, statements of solidarity are being written and demonstrations are being organised. Many of us are sitting with colleagues, students, and friends from Ukraine, and dissidents from Russia, listening to their accounts of the atrocities of war, as we have listened to colleagues, students, and friends from other places before: Syria, Kosovo, Palestine, Afghanistan, and Kurdistan to name but a few locations. Some of the analyses most urgently needed at this point are those that critically examine the relation between the Russian governmental propaganda claiming that the war on Ukraine is an operation to defend Russian interests and core values against "corrupt", "perverse" Western influences, and that of reactionary anti-gender, homophobic and -especially -transphobic movements surging in Europe and beyond. Cues can be taken from the queer scholarly work already published, for example that on the use of the spectre of LGBT in nationalist move-