New publication: Two Chapters in Queer Geographies: Beirut, Tijuana, Copenhagen
Queer Geographies: Beirut, Tijuana, Copenhagen, a collaborative work of artists, activists, and scholars, showcases the work of queer art installations in these three very different cities throughout the 2000s. The art and its very smart, beautiful catalog highlight the identical processes of neoliberal capitalism that touch each of these places and brings queer life into sync more and more from greater distances. Two chapters of mine appear as the bookends: the academic/personal introduction in “A Queer Geographer’s Life as an Introduction to Queer Theory, Space, and Time,” and the conclusion “What and Where Next? Some Thoughts on a Spatially Queered Recommended Reading List.” I remain delighted and grateful I was asked to reflect on this work and reflect on what queer theory, critical geographic theory, and work on the geographies of sexualities can bring to this radical, important, and exciting catalog. I am also thankful to the lead editor, Lasse Lau, who not only gave me permission but encouraged me to share this work via my site. The two papers are below.
H
ere is an excerpt from “A Queer Geographer’s Life as an Introduction to Queer Theory, Space, and Time”:
I used to be afraid to get in bed with theory, and queer theory was no different. What the hell were these theory people talking about? Who could ever capture queer life in theory? As an urban, queer, feminist geographer and psychologist, as well as a lesbian-queer-dyke-feminist-trans non-op, non-hormone dyke, I have had to come to grips with theory, queer and otherwise. The liberatory practices of what I call queering space and spatializing the queer eventually helped me to make sense of the world and even to make sense of my life and my place(s) in the world. Now that theory has equally and happily gripped me, it is worth spreading the answers to these questions. In this essay, I explain how I came to love theory through geographic theories, LGBTQ geographies, and queer theory. I write of my experience of queering geography and geographizing the queer so that you can begin to see how these different elements can be put in conversation with one another. I share my story and these theories to help you expand the way you read the art and essays in this book, and even illuminate and extend the ways you experience everyday life. I conclude by ruminating on what queer geography is and could be, and I do so in the hope that you might happily find yourself in bed with theory too.
I hope you enjoy the rest!
Gieseking, J.J., 2013. What and Where Next? Some Thoughts on a Spatially Queered Recommended Reading List, in: Lau, L., Arsanios, M., Zúñiga-González, F., Kryger, M. (Eds.), Queer Geographies: Beirut, Tijuana, Copenhagen. Museet for Samtidskunst // Museum of Contemporary Art, Roskilde, Denmark, pp. 196–201.