ABSTRACT
While recognizing important differences among the countries in both regions, this volume identifies structural and phenomenological similarities in the contexts of gender and sexuality between the European and Middle Eastern/North African political discourses and practices. The book focuses, specifically, on issues related to LGBTQIA communities in European and MENA countries. How and to what degree are these subjectivities acknowledged and represented in public discourse? How and why are these non-normative gendered positionalities and bodily practices either integrated into the perceived national/cultural Self or declared corrupting elements endangering its coherence? To what extent and for what purpose are so-called “excluded identities” appropriated by political movements?
By focusing on the intertwined identity politics of Europe and the MENA countries, this collection constitutes a comparative study of negative stereotypes and exclusionary political practices towards internal and external Others across both regions. A central aim of this volume is to deconstruct both the notion of a homogeneously anti-queer Middle East and North Africa and its counterpart, the image of an LGBTQIA-friendly Europe, by offering a view into the cross-regional sexual and gender diversity of societies and cultures and the historical mutability of attitudes and practices towards non-normative sexualities. The volume thereby contributes to the emerging field of transregional comparative sexuality studies.
