Routledge De-Centring Western Sexualities: Central and Eastern European Perspectives

Product Description De-Centring Western Sexualities critically assesses the current state of knowledge about sexualities outside the framings of 'The West', by focusing on gender and sexuality within the context of Central and Eastern Europe. Providing rich case studies drawn from a range of "post-communist" countries, this interdisciplinary volume brings together the latest research on the formation of sexualities in Central and Eastern Europe, alongside analyses of the sexual and national identity politics of the region. Engaged with current debates within queer studies surrounding temporality and knowledge production, and inspired by post-colonial critique, the book problematises the Western hegemony that often characterises sexuality studies, and presents local theoretical insights better attuned to their geo-temporal realities. As such, it offers a cultural and social re-evaluation of everyday life experiences, and will be of interest to sociologists, queer studies scholars, geographers and anthropologists. Review 'De-Centring Western Sexualities advances critical studies of sexualities and sexual politics in significant and inspiring ways. The authors provocatively question the "Western" focus of sexuality studies and highlight the consequences of Central and Eastern Europe’s absence from recent queer critiques. This valuable collection offers essential new perspectives on the marketization of (homo)sexuality and the functioning of heteronormativity in these countries.' Gavin Brown, University of Leicester, UK and co-editor of Geographies of Sexualities 'De-Centring Western Sexualities is a landmark volume in the study of gender and sexuality. Kulpa and Mizielinska have gathered here and framed some of the very best essays on discourses of sexuality in the context of Central and Eastern Europe. Not content to simply mark distinctions between East and West, the US and the rest, local and global, the editors' introduction and many of the essays here actually retheorize concepts of temporality, spatiality and sociality in the process of asking after the meaning of sexuality outside of its framing in "the West". Ranging in topic from heteronormativity to lesbian families, from transnational activism to queer temporalities and combining social science methodologies with theoretical inquiries, this collection is as broad as it is deep and it creates many new contexts for rethinking sexuality and de-centering the West.' Judith Halberstam, University of Southern California, USA, author of In a Queer Time and Place 'While the academic study of gender in post-Communist Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has generated a significant body of literature, the number of works dealing with sexuality - and in particular non-heterosexuality - remains minimal. Robert Kulpa and Joanna MizieliÅ„ska’s edited collection is thus a welcome addition to this neglected field. The editors are to be congratulated for having provided cohesion by encouraging all the contributors to situate their rese About the Author Robert Kulpa is completing his Ph.D. at Birkbeck College, London and Joanna Mizieliñska is Professor of Sociology at the Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Poland, and Visiting Professor of Gender Studies at the Polish Academy of Sciences.