Queer Theory in France

Queer theory is an umbrella term describing a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of gender and sexuality that has grown in popularity since it first became established in the Anglo-American academic world in the early 1990s. Queer theory borrowed extensively from the work of leading French thinkers of the post-war period, in particular Foucault, Derrida and Lacan. However, in France itself queer theory has not only established itself relatively late in comparison with the UK and the US, but indeed is still fighting to gain a stronghold in academic institutions.

This project begins as an investigation into why such a discrepancy exists, and proposes to look into both the transformation of French post-war philosophy in the hands of Anglo-American queer theorists, as well as the more recent re-translation of queer theory back into the French context. What has been gained and lost in this intercultural traffic of ideas? We shall re-examine queer theory in the light of the different legal, social, political, and institutional contexts with a view to accounting for the striking belatedness of queer theory in France. In so doing, the project will foster the burgeoning dialogue between queer theorists from all three national contexts. The project will address the following questions:

- How did the first wave of Anglo-American queer theory make use of and transform its French influences?
- How, in turn, has queer theory been transformed as it has been reinscribed in the French national context?
- What specific features of French social, political, academic and legal institutions inform the extent to which queer theory is emabraced or rejected?
- How has psychoanalysis as discourse and institution influenced this process, bearing in mind its greater cultural weight in France?
- Why has queer theory been more easily absorbed in some French academic departments (history, sociology) than in others (literature)?
- What are the differences between the way grass-roots LGBTQ activism, and in particular HIV/AIDS activism, engages with theoretical debates in the UK, the US and France?
- How is the issue of gay separatism/assimilation treated differently in the UK, the US and France?
- Why is the debate around 'bareback' (unsafe) sex conducted differently in the UK, the US and France?
- What can be gained by examining such differences? Are they historically insurmountable? How would a dialogue between queer theorists and activists working in the three national contexts reinvigorate both queer theory and the cultures of LGBTQ communities across all three nations?

We have identified four main groups of extra-academic beneficiaries of the research. They are:

- Public health workers and activists from HIV/AIDS prevention groups
- LGBTQ lawyers
- LGBTQ activists in general
- Psychoanalysts and psychotherapists working in the public and private sectors

The chief way in which these groups will benefit from the research is by their active participation and involvement in selected areas of the project. Representatives from each of the above groups will be invited to speak in workshops organized that will closely relate to their concerns. Thus, a workshop on the issue of 'bareback' (unsafe) sex will engage with health workers, HIV/AIDS prevention activists, LGBTQ lawyers and activists in general; another on the issue of 'gay separatism' will engage with LGBTQ lawyers and activists; a third on the influence of psychoanalysis will engage with psychoanalysts and psychotherapists. The aim of participation in all these cases is to allow selected public, private and voluntary sector groups, as well as the general LGBTQ public to benefit from academic research that directly speaks to their lives and work. By the same token, our aim is to allow academic research itself to be involved with the experiences and expertise of people from outside academia. In this way, public health policy will be brought into dialogue with both theoretical debates around 'bareback' sex as well as with the views and expreriences of grass-roots LGBTQ activists.

A second way in which the general LGBTQ public will benefit from the research is through the two public panel debates organized in Year 3 of the project in non-academic spaces with the aim of involving groups and individuals from outside academia. In keeping with the transnational interests and aims of the project, we shall hold one such debate in London and one in Paris. Participants in the workshops and in the international conference will also be invited from the UK, the US, and France alike.

The project's impact will be faccilitated by advertising in both the UK and the French mainstream LGBTQ media to ensure maximum involvement of non-academic interested parties. The website will further allow for the participation of members of LGBTQ groups and of the interested general public.