Truth Be Told, Science Be Bold. The Growing Fear of ‘Queer’

Abstract

The flak which Gender Studies receive from within academic institutions, in (social) media and even through bans from state governments is usually staged as a crucial redeeming of science as a ‘neutral’, ‘distant’ and ‘objective’ endeavour. As a term ‘gender’ meanwhile has become synonymous with politics, activism and ideology regardless of the context or the shape in which it is served. Queer interrogations of the heteronormative ordering of sex, gender and sexuality in particular are rendered as scientifically untenable and socially disruptive fantasy texts. This contribution investigates the modes and means of maintaining and (re-)gaining discursive power regarding the delimitations of the contestable and underscores the necessity, value, and force of queer knowledge productions.