ABSTRACT
This chapter explores discourses of exceptionalism, their embeddedness in particular contextual landscapes, exclusions, and transnational circulations across the Global North, East, and South. Based on a conversation between the authors around the ways in which national exceptionalism is articulated in three seemingly different landscapes – Scandinavian countries, Russia, and Turkey – the chapter highlights the relational and contextual character of particular discourses of exceptionalism, be they celebratory, pessimistic, or characterised by a sense of urgency. Drawing on interdisciplinary scholarship on genders, sexualities, and (trans-) nationalisms, we explore how these discourses are entwined with notions of modernity, national sovereignty, and superiority, contingent on the exclusion of racialised, classed, and sexualised others. While exceptionalism is no coherent or unified discourse but should rather be seen as ambiguous, hybrid, and varied, we argue that as a concept, it provides a fruitful analytical entrance to transnational feminist theorising, enabling an understanding of the systemic as well as historically specific dynamics involved in activist practices and gender and sexual politics. Our findings call attention to the role of exceptionalism in the global co-construction of ‘leaders’ and ‘victims’ in discourses of gender equality and women’s and LGBTI+ rights.
