TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Introduction 3 Melinda Chateauvert
Part I Theory and Sexuality Is Sexuality the End of Utopia? Francis Ronsin (France)
The Absent Foucault: Bulgarian (Mis)uses Stanimir Panayotov (Bulgaria)
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Mêmeté and the Critique of Sexual Difference: On Monique Wittig=s Deconstruction of the Symbolic Order and the Site of the Neuter 23 J. Edgar Bauer (Germany)
Part II Sexual Politics in the East Constructing a Narrative: The History of Homosexuality in Poland
32
Invading Law and Public Space? The Situation of LGBT Persons in Poland
51
The ASexual
[email protected] in Bulgarian Socialism
59
The LGBT Movement in Bulgaria
75
John Stanley (Canada)
Patrycja Pogodzinska (Poland) Karin Taylor (Austria)
Monika Pisankaneva (Bulgaria)
Melting the Iron Curtain: the Beginnings of the LGBT Movement in Slovenia 83 Bogdan Lešnik (Slovenia)
New Social Movements in Turkey: Kaos GL as a Sexual Identity Organization 94 Mustafa Kemal Coskun and Tuba Ozkan (Turkey)
Feminism and its Impact on a Couple=s Life Maria Nicoleta Turliuc (Romania)
105
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Part III Sexual Politics in the West The Connection Between the Squatter, Queer and Alterglobalization Movement: The Many Diversities of Multiculturalism 117 Saskia Poldervaart (The Netherlands)
The Demise of Gay and Lesbian Radicalism in the Netherlands
117
Antiracist Queer Politics: a Gramscian Approach
142
Walking the Streets: The U.S. Prostitution Rights Movement from An International Perspective
153
Respectability, Sexuality and Citizenship: Comparing the U.S. Civil Rights and Gay Rights Movements
164
Gert Hekma (The Netherlands)
Nancy Wagenknecht (Germany)
Antonia Levy (Germany)
Melinda Chateauvert (United States)
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INTRODUCTION Melinda Chateauvert1* The essays in this anthology have been written by scholars from across Europe and North America for the sixth meeting of the Socialism and Sexuality network in October 2004. The conference, hosted by the Department of Philosophy of the University of Sofia, was the first network meeting in Eastern Europe. The geographical expansion brought together scholars and topics from former Communist countries as well as western Europe and North American under the theme, “New Social Movements and Sexuality.” Most of the presenters have contributed their papers to this book; some scholars were unable to attend, but shared their work prior to the conference. The geographical diversity of conference participants is also reflected in the essays. During the warm, late-summer days in Bulgaria’s capital, panel presentations ranged from theoretical issues in sexual politics to the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activism in Europe to comparisons of various radical social movements since the 1980s. As the many presentations focusing on Eastern Europe showed, the sexual liberation and LGBT movements have, for the most part, been excluded from public discourse in many of those countries, even after the enormous political and social changes of the 1990s. Consequently, the lively and engaging discussions among participants soon focused on the reasons for this absence and possible ways to bring LGBT issues to public attention and on the political agenda, frequently citing movements in the West as examples. Leaping beyond the confines of the conference, these issues were taken up by Bulgaria’s newly founded LGBT organization, Queer Bulgaria.a Conference organizer Monika Pisankaneva and University of Amsterdam attendee Gert Hekma