Texts

A Guide to Cooperation with Allies

Feminist Collective

Hagra

September 2020

Hagra is a Russian queer artist. While he started working under this name in 2012, it was only after the first exhibition in 2013 that he has started to consider pursuing the professional career of an artist. His main activities are carried out on the Internet. Although he does not limit his work to any particular topic and draws everything that catches his eye, the current social and political environment drove Hagra to focus on the issues of sexual orientation and sexuality in general, gender, and social stratification.

Boston Marriages in Contemporary Russia and Beyond

Aleksandra Yaseneva

Ekaterina Davydova

August 2020

In the dominant Russian-language political discourses, modern Russia is often portrayed as a stronghold of traditional family values, intolerant towards alternative forms of human cohabitation. Nevertheless, behind the official rhetoric facade lies a diverse Russian society, surviving the crackdown on sexual freedom, and a patriarchal renaissance sanctioned by the authorities. This article talks about Boston marriages in modern Russia and beyond. Boston marriage is a unique phenomenon that demonstrates the adaptation of Russian society to the challenges of a new sexual and family politics. We present our online project "Zhivi s podrugoi” founded in 2014 to highlight and promote cohabitation between women, Boston marriage and romantic friendship; it also serves as a meeting platform for women, looking for such relationships. What is meant here is not merely sexual relationships, but the economic, psychological, and social support between friends who are women. Read the full text in Russian.

Queering Bratislava: On Borders, Otherness and Public Space

Myrto Tsilimpounidi

https://doi.org/10.52323/4187322

July 2020

This paper follows the multiple layers of an urban fabric that is stereotypically characterised as ‘post-socialist’, yet in essence it is subject to ongoing transitions – much like the notion of being queer. What can we learn from queer theory in relation to post-socialist urban theory? What are the methodological advancements that derive from a queer approach on research? In this light the presentation breaks the usually logocentric academic discourse as it engages with the premises of visual sociology. Using visual material from Bratislava focusing on urban inscriptions (street art, urban interventions) it opens up a discussion about the changes in the city and the struggles of different groups.

Necropolitics, Homonationalism and Precarious Queer Lives in Times of Global Neoliberalism

Oksana Dudko

July 2020

For many activist groups in Ukraine, “Western” legislation and politics concerning LGBT rights often serve as positive exemplars and “success stories.” However, the collective volume Queer Necropolitics, edited by Jin Haritaworn, Adi Kuntsman, and Silvia Posocco, draws attention to the problematic aspects of the victories in the struggle for LGBT equality in the neoliberal West. Specifically, the book demonstrates that only a privileged subgroup of the LGBT community (usually white, middle-class gay men) can fully enjoy rights and freedoms. In contrast, economically and politically vulnerable groups – such as people of colour and transgender migrants – remain at the fringes in the struggle for equal rights. The authors claim that not only are these groups ignored by authorities, but even leading LGBT organizations do not “notice” the precarious lives of trans*people of colour – especially trans*feminine individuals – within their communities. Read the book review in Ukrainian.

Sodomy and Contemporary Ideas about Russia’s Tradition of Homophobia

Feminist Collective

Nick Mayhew

June 2020

According to Russian politician Vitalii Milonov, homosexuality has never been tolerated in Russia, hence it stands at odds with Russian cultural and religious “tradition”. As evidence, sometimes he cites early modern anti-sodomy laws. Focussing on these laws, in this short article I question the idea that homophobia is a quality intrinsic to early modern Russian history. I argue that “sodomy” (muzhelozhstvo) did not refer unambiguously to same-sex intercourse in the early modern period. Moreover, anti-sodomy laws were imported to Russia from Northern Europe and their legitimacy was questioned. Read the full text in Russian.

Our Wild Ones: Aesthetics and Politics in the Music of Independent Ukraine

Ganna Gnedkova

June 2020

As Maria Sonevytsky asserts in Wild Music: Sound and Sovereignty in Ukraine, music is not only of aesthetic value for the culture, it also carries a political message, either stated or hidden, conscious or imposed. What’s so different about Ukrainian music is the Wildness that it mediates while strategically applying its exoticism to make a political statement. Within this Wild Music, those listening come to see an imaginary of the Ukrainian sovereignty and thus come to be connected through “acoustic citizenship” which goes far beyond the country’s borders. Read the full text in Ukrainian.

Living a Feminist Life

Oksana Husieva

April 2020

Living a Feminist Life, the ninth book of the feminist writer and independent scholar Sara Ahmed is a hybrid text that includes the episodes from the author’s personal and professional life, engagements with prominent feminist critics, examples from folklore, literature, and film, as well as reflections on the development and prospects of the feminist movement. Ahmed employs reflexive and analytical frameworks to demonstrate that a feminist life – like feminism itself – means to constantly approach reality from a critical perspective and to raise thorny and often challenging questions. Full text is available in Ukrainian.

Principles of Good Work for an Activist Collective

Feminist Collective

Yosh

March 2020

The text contains reflections on work in the public sector, in particular in the team of “Feminist Workshop”. The activity under analysis is based on flat and self-organizing methods, as well as the principle of "practice what you promote." The following principles flow from them and should help the activist collective to exist harmoniously and sustainable. I wrote them for a discussion in activism, which I am terribly lacking, to comprehend our activities and to form guidelines for the future. Also, this set of principles is aimed at reducing the pressure of productivity on people, which is carried out by external factors (such as competitive culture, conditions of economic instability, donor requirements, expectations of relatives), at least within the team. Read the full text in Russian.

The Unwomanly Face of Chechnya

Feminist Collective

Lenny Smirno

February 2020

This documentary essay conveys the author’s thoughts and feelings regarding the homophobic campaign that developed in Chechnya since the beginning of the 2017. It tells about that place, or that empty signifier, that was assigned to women in the coverage of this tragedy, and about the personal experience of the author as a volunteer of an association in France supporting LGBT+ refugees from the North Caucasus. Read the full text in Russian.

We Speak From the Side of the Road

Feminist Collective

Vishnya Vishnya

geo

Syaivo

February 2020

According to my view of the world, there is heterogeneity present in it - not diversity we are told of, but heterogeneity. A conflict is inherent to it because these different layers are not compatible due to historic inequality. There are people and institutions that hide and erase this heterogeneity - re-write the history because they benefit from creating and supporting hierarchies. Because of this, marginalized people and social groups emerge. For me, 'marginal' as a word designates something that has been pushed to the side of the road. This concept is very important to Zboku because we speak from the side of the road and try to work with contexts laying "on the side”. Read the interview in Ukrainian.

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