AAG 2013 CFP: Queer(ing) Geographies

*Apologies for cross-postings. We are very eager to have non-geographers
participate and foster interdisciplinary conversations.*

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Call for Papers: Annual Meeting of the Association of American
Geographers (Los
Angeles, April 9-13, 2013)

Proposed Session(s): Queer(ing) Geographies
(to be accompanied by a panel session of invited scholars)

Sponsored by the Geographic Perspectives on Women and the Sexuality and
Space specialty groups

Organizers:
Emily Mitchell-Eaton (Department of Geography, Syracuse University)
Sean Wang (Department of Geography, Syracuse University)

"By 'queer' I do not mean merely adding homosexual identities and
practices to the
mix. Rather, I am positing a political and theoretical perspective that
suggests
that sexuality is disciplined by social institutions and practices that
normalize
and naturalize heterosexuality and homosexual practices including marriage,
family, and biological reproduction by marginalizing persons,
institutions, or
practices that deviate from these norms" (Manalansan 2006, 225).

"[Q]ueer lives cannot transcend categories or boundaries. The task for queer
theorists, then, is to embrace the critique of identity to its fullest
extent by
abandoning the search for an inherently radical queer subject and turning
attention to the advancement of a critical approach to the workings of sexual
normativities and non-normativities" (Oswin 2008, 96).

"As such, [new scholarship in queer geographies] accounts for fractures
within
queer cultural politics and merges postcolonial and critical race theory with
queer theory to bring questions of race, colonialism, geopolitics, migration,
globalization and nationalism to the fore in an area of study previously
trained
too narrowly on sexuality and gender" (Oswin 2008, 90).

In the past few years, there has been a wide array of scholarship in
queer / LGBT
studies, both in geography and beyond. Yet as Browne (2006, 886) reminded us,
"queer is more than shorthand for LGBT," and research that focuses on
non-heterosexuals does not necessarily imply a queer orientation. In the
proposed
session(s), we call for papers that bring queer theory into geographical
research,
on sexuality, gender, citizenship and beyond. Of particular interest are
papers
that include interdisciplinary perspectives and/or address tensions
between queer
and LGBT studies. The language used here is intentionally broad, for we
want to
include voices from as many disciplinary perspectives as possible;
however, we are
especially intrigued by queer interventions into the subdiscipline of
population
geography, a subdiscipline that traditionally relies on positivist
quantitative
approaches to categories and counting. Some organizing themes have been
listed
below, but we invite submissions from all areas of queer geographies, and
they
will be grouped into sessions accordingly.

Family: The past few decades have seen the proliferation of so-called
"non-traditional families": single-mother households; mixed and multi-racial
couples; familial separation and reunification of (im)migrants; gay and
lesbian
couples having children. Yet despite these social changes, geographers
have paid
relatively little attention as the unit of inquiry compared to
anthropologists and
sociologists, and it seems to be an area ripe for queer intervention.
Specifically
within LGBT studies, can we 'queer' family? Or do notions of family and
citizenship remain (hetero)normative?
(Im)migration: Although queer theory is relatively new to the scene of
migration
scholarship, it has been a very productive avenue of inquiry. Not only is
(im)migration intimately linked to political economy, power and
difference, queer
statuses often pose significant impediments to mobility. Any non-normative
sexuality, race, marital status, racial/ethnic/linguistic positionalities
will
most likely invite further scrutiny. Furthermore, 'queer spaces' in this
context
work beyond stereotypical urban gay ghettos, and instead direct our attention
towards contested, transitional, and in-between spaces.
Interdisciplinary Perspectives: Queer studies have provided a fertile
space for
engagements outside traditional disciplinary boundaries. The proposed
session(s)
seek to continue that trend by bringing geographers together with other queer
scholars. We all have personal differences in educational background,
disciplinary
training, preferred methodology, specializations, etc. Such differences
should be
particularly productive for queering our conversations.

Submissions:
Please submit abstracts of no more than 250 words and a short
bibliography in a
single PDF document to Sean Wang (shwang13@syr.edu) by October 1, 2012.
Please
direct any inquiries to session organizers (Emily Mitchell-Eaton,
emmitche@syr.edu
and Sean Wang, shwang13@syr.edu).

Authors of successful submissions will be contacted by October 12, 2012.
They will
be expected to register for the conference and submit their abstracts
online at
the AAG website by October 24, 2012. Please note a range of registration
fees will
apply and must be paid before this date.

Browne, Kath. 2006. "Challenging queer geographies." Antipode 38: 885-893.
Manalansan IV, Martin F. 2006. "Queer intersections: Sexuality and gender in
migration studies." International Migration Review 40: 224-249.
Oswin, Natalie. 2008. "Critical geographies and the uses of sexuality:
Deconstructing queer space." Progress in Human Geography 32| 89-102
“[Q]ueer lives cannot transcend categories or boundaries. The task for
queer theorists, then, is to embrace the critique of identity to its
fullest extent by abandoning the search for an inherently radical queer
subject and turning attention to the advancement of a critical approach to
the workings of sexual normativities and non-normativities” (Oswin 2008,
96).

“As such, [new scholarship in queer geographies] accounts for fractures
within queer cultural politics and merges postcolonial and critical race
theory with queer theory to bring questions of race, colonialism,
geopolitics, migration, globalization and nationalism to the fore in an
area of study previously trained too narrowly on sexuality and gender”
(Oswin 2008, 90).

In the past few years, there has been a wide array of scholarship in queer
/ LGBT studies, both in geography and beyond. Yet as Browne (2006, 886)
reminded us, “queer is more than shorthand for LGBT,” and research
that focuses on non-heterosexuals does not necessarily imply a queer
orientation. In the proposed session(s), we call for papers that bring
queer theory into geographical research, on sexuality, gender, citizenship
and beyond. Of particular interest are papers that include
interdisciplinary perspectives and/or address tensions between queer and
LGBT studies. The language used here is intentionally broad, for we want
to include voices from as many disciplinary perspectives as possible;
however, we are especially intrigued by queer interventions into the
subdiscipline of population geography, a subdiscipline that traditionally
relies on positivist quantitative approaches to categories and counting.
Some organizing themes have been listed below, but we invite submissions
from all areas of queer geographies, and they will be grouped into
sessions accordingly.

Family: The past few decades have seen the proliferation of so-called
“non-traditional families”: single-mother households; mixed and
multi-racial couples; familial separation and reunification of
(im)migrants; gay and lesbian couples having children. Yet despite these
social changes, geographers have paid relatively little attention as the
unit of inquiry compared to anthropologists and sociologists, and it seems
to be an area ripe for queer intervention. Specifically within LGBT
studies, can we ‘queer’ family? Or do notions of family and
citizenship remain (hetero)normative?
(Im)migration: Although queer theory is relatively new to the scene of
migration scholarship, it has been a very productive avenue of inquiry.
Not only is (im)migration intimately linked to political economy, power
and difference, queer statuses often pose significant impediments to
mobility. Any non-normative sexuality, race, marital status,
racial/ethnic/linguistic positionalities will most likely invite further
scrutiny. Furthermore, ‘queer spaces’ in this context work beyond
stereotypical urban gay ghettos, and instead direct our attention towards
contested, transitional, and in-between spaces.
Interdisciplinary Perspectives: Queer studies have provided a fertile
space for engagements outside traditional disciplinary boundaries. The
proposed session(s) seek to continue that trend by bringing geographers
together with other queer scholars. We all have personal differences in
educational background, disciplinary training, preferred methodology,
specializations, etc. Such differences should be particularly productive
for queering our conversations.
Submissions:
Please submit abstracts of no more than 250 words and a short bibliography
in a single PDF document to Sean Wang (shwang13@syr.edu) by October 1,
2012. Please direct any inquiries to session organizers (Emily
Mitchell-Eaton, emmitche@syr.edu and Sean Wang, shwang13@syr.edu).

Authors of successful submissions will be contacted by October 12, 2012.
They will be expected to register for the conference and submit their
abstracts online at the AAG website by October 24, 2012. Please note a
range of registration fees will apply and must be paid before this date.

Browne, Kath. 2006. “Challenging queer geographies.” Antipode 38:
885-893.
Manalansan IV, Martin F. 2006. “Queer intersections: Sexuality and
gender in migration studies.” International Migration Review 40:
224-249.
Oswin, Natalie. 2008. “Critical geographies and the uses of sexuality:
Deconstructing queer space.” Progress in Human Geography 32| 89-102