На перепутье: методология, теория и практика ЛГБТ и квир-исследований. Сборник статей

Данная книга — результат одноименной конференции, состоявшейся в Санкт-Петербурге в октябре 2013 года. В статьях сборника представлены выводы эмпирических и теоретических исследований сексуальности, выполненных специалистами разных дисциплин и при помощи широкого спектра подходов. Социологические, политологические, психологические, филологические, лингвистические, культурологические, юридические работы делают равноценный вклад в общий архив знаний о сексуальности в России и иных контекстах.

Materials of the V International Gender Workshop “Gender and (Military) Conflicts in Easter-European Countries through Feminist Lenses”

On March 8-10, 2017 in Lviv, the V International Gender Workshop took place organized by Heinrich Boell Office in Ukraine in cooperation with hbs offices in Eastern European countries and the Caucasus. Researchers and activists from Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Poland, Macedonia, Serbia, Czech Republic and Germany discussed military conflict situations in the region from the perspective of feminist critique. This publication collects texts created on the basis of some of the presentations from the event.

"Prostitutes" and "Defectors": How the Ukrainian State Constructs Women Emigrants to Italy and the USA

Scholars of sending countries emphasise the role of economics in shaping state policies towards emigration. They argue sending states are converging around a set of discursive strategies that aim to facilitate the influx of remittances from emigrants. One such strategy uses discourses of cultural nationalism to celebrate emigrants as ‘heroes’ of the nation. Drawing on a state sponsored media campaign and ethnographic data, I found the Ukrainian state does the opposite. It stigmatises its emigrants to both Italy and the USA as ‘prostitutes’ and ‘defectors’ respectively. However emigrants are differentially stigmatised. Emigrants to the USA are simply dismissed, but the Ukrainian state constructs migration to Italy as a shameful social problem. It does this even though emigrants to Italy send back significantly more remittances. Economic interests cannot explain Ukrainian state practices towards emigration. Instead, in the context of post-Soviet transformation, I suggest the Ukrainian state has prioritised the construction of a national identity. The state then constructs policy with an eye to cultural rather than economic outcomes. I argue the Ukrainian state actively stigmatises the migration to Italy because it poses challenges to the nation-building process, whereas the migration to the USA is peripheral to this key state concern.

Crisis, War and Austerity: Devaluation of Female Labor and Retreating of the State

Following the Euromaidan, the outbreak of war and ensuing economic crisis, the Ukrainian government introduced wide-ranging reforms guided by the neoliberal idea that stability and economic growth can be generated by cutting social spending.

Despite the government’s proclaimed intent to support the poorest and weakest members of Ukrainian society, the opposite has occurred, and the negative effects of the new reforms have ended up targeting them most. Women in Ukraine are particularly harshly hit by these savings measures. Despite superficially pro-women legislation, women tend to have the opposite experience. Cuts to the civil service and social spending generally lead to lay-offs and thus to the firing of women, who overwhelmingly work in these sectors.

Further consequences of Ukrainian austerity policies are, among others, an ongoing devaluing of reproductive labour (care, education, etc.), the dismantling of social infrastructure and a neoliberal, profit-oriented restructuring of the education and health care systems.

The Ukrainian left is faced with the challenge of fundamentally criticizing these processes and articulating alternatives. Left-wing feminists must build a strong network of allies in order to lead the fightback.​

Sexuality and Revolution in Post‐Soviet Ukraine: LGBT Rights and the Euromaidan Protests of 2013–2014

While some attention has been paid to the role of women and gender aspects during the Euromaidan protests (2013–2014), there is a lack of research focusing on questions of homosexuality in this connection. This article examines the evolution of the situation regarding homosexuality and LGBT rights during the Euromaidan protests. The empirical base consists of 20 interviews conducted in July–August 2014 with LGBT rights activists, all of whom were involved in the Euromaidan protests. The respondents were asked a number of questions about the visibility of the LGBT community during the Euromaidan; about which events they considered to be significant for the LGBT community; and about the positive and negative aspects of the Euromaidan with regard to the human rights situation for LGBT people. The “strategy of invisibility” chosen by LGBT activists during this protest is analyzed and criticized here with the help of the concept of “homonationalism.” In addition, the article investigates the ways in which LGBT activists in Ukraine reproduce the West vs. East and EU vs. Russia binaries.

Книга «Невидимые» – Реальные истории ЛГБТ-семей

Первая часть книги – реальные истории ЛГБТ+ семей, которые воспитывают детей. 10 реальных семей – 10 реальных историй. Семьи, участвующие в интервью, откровенно поделились своими историями, рассказали, как складываются их отношения с родственниками, с социумом, с какими проблемами им приходится сталкиваться ежедневно, как повлиял на их жизнь «Закон о пропаганде гомосексуализма среди несовершеннолетних». 

Вторая часть – комментарии психологинь, работающих с ЛГБТ+ семьями. Эти часть книги очень значима, так как содержит ответы на многие вопросы, волнующие ЛГБТ+ родителей. Как открыться ребенку? Что делать, если ребенок не принимают свою семью? Как реагировать на возможную агрессию со стороны социума?

Заключительная часть книги – мнения и комментарии ЛГБТ+ активистов и активисток, которые не просто озвучивают проблемы ЛГБТ+ семей в России, но и предлагают различные варианты решения и пути выхода из сложившейся ситуации.