Decolonial queer thinking: notes towards the consolidation of a field

The last two decades have witnessed critical intersections of decolonial theorisation and queer studies, resulting in a disparate and uneven formation of decolonial queer thinking. Borrowing from genealogies of transnational feminisms, queer of colour critique, and queer race and migration studies inter alia, this newly emerging field of inquiry has allowed nuanced and extended analyses of contemporary power imbalance instituted through mechanisms of domination in colonial and postcolonial times. Despite an expanding body of literature, substantial obfuscations pertaining to the import of decolonial queer thinking are prevalent. This talk therefore engages critical thought that has developed through the crossing of decolonial and queer theorisations. It provides an overview of the genealogical influences, points of cross-connections, and characteristics of decolonial queer thinking, currently being articulated in interdisciplinary and various geographical sites.

Sandeep Bakshi (he/they) researches on transnational queer and decolonial enunciation of knowledges. He received his PhD from the School of English, University of Leicester, UK, and is currently employed as an Associate Professor of Decolonial, Postcolonial and Queer Studies at University Paris Cité. He co-convenes the research seminar, “Undiscipline, Decolonise, Repair” and leads the Pôle Société Civile of the Cité du Genre Institute, Université Paris Cité. Co-editor of Decolonizing Sexualities: Transnational Perspectives, Critical Interventions (Oxford: Counterpress, 2016), ‘Decolonial Trajectories’, special issue of Interventions (2020), and Qu’est-ce que l’Intersectionnalité? Dominations plurielles : sexe, classe et race (2021), he has variously published on queer and race entanglements in postcolonial literatures and cultures. He is the co-founder and co-director of the Decolonizing Sexualities Network (https://decolonizingsexualities.org).