The aim of this 3-day symposium that will take place at FEU from June 10th to 12th (in situ and remote) is to question the relationships between gender, sex, race, ability and space. If space is the result of social interaction, rather than the mere receptacle of social forces, then according to the trilogy put forward by Henri Lefebvre of “lived, conceived and perceived spaces”, it structures and contributes to the reproduction and challenge of social relationships. In an urban sphere characterized by dominations, is it possible to resist and “queer” the city ? If we understand “queer” along the lines of Kath Brown [1], “which operates beyond powers and controls ensuring the respect of normativity,” then “queering the city” means redesigning, reconceptualizing, rethinking and remapping spaces and geographies to transform bodies.
The transdisciplinary nature of this academic event will be expressed in the variety of theoretical fields as well as in the integration of artistic practice. With the contemporary rise in power of struggling movements against normativity, sexism, violence towards women and other people resisting the norms of gender and sexuality, discussions will engage with current politics. Keynotes by specialists of queer spaces and geographies of resistance, and performance by contemporary artists, will center on the body as sexed, gendered, racialized, marked by class and ability, in its power to provoke a transformation of the values and norms it refuses to adapt to.
Find the complete program here :
[1] Kath Browne, “Challenging queer geographies”. Antipode 38, p.885–93, 2006.
Practical Information
COVID : Mask required, please use the hand sanitizer made available at the entrance. Please respect physical distancing.
Entry: Visitors should arrive by the garden through the Grand Salon [access map]
Limited number of seats, please register in advance.
For the drag-king workshop which will be limited to a small group of people, you can already register by sending an email to Claire Finch: clairefinchparis8@gmail.com
Join the Facebook event page.
Partner Institutions
Université Paris Nanterre, Centre de Recherches Anglophones, Université Paris 8, Legs, Transcrit, Fondation des Etats-Unis, Artec, Institut des Amériques.