University of Zurich, Switzerland

Department Member, Social Anthropological Institute

University Research Priority Program »Asia and Europe»

Thesis Title: Representing the "Queer Other" in Ethnographic Film: An experimental anthropological approach to intersectionality and identity politics of lesbians in urban Java, Indonesia

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Abstract of my Phd project:

The recent attacks on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights activists by violent Islamic groups highlight the vulnerability of marginalized subjects in Indonesia. At the same time, however, these incidents have led to a new solidarity amongst different LGBT rights and human rights organizations at the national and international level. With a view to the Indonesian political landscape, this new trend raises questions about appropriate and effective political strategies and advocacy for LGBT rights and their practical implementation at the local level. My PhD project analyses the interrelation of external and internal patterns of marginalization of and among Indonesian lesbians. Using a visual method, I introduce a new methodical approach for studying the intersection of race, class, gender and sexuality as well as the interplay of multiple forms of discrimination. In particular, the project focuses on the question of how both global feminist and LGBT rights discourses and national discourses on gender and sexuality influence the subject positions of Indonesian lesbians on the one hand and the identity politics of local LGBT rights organizations on the other hand.

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