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2020 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

3. Unpacking the Colonial Baggage of British Imperial Sexual Discourses

Author : Matthew Farmer

Published in: Transnational LGBT Activism and UK-Based NGOs

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

Farmer explores the historical development of European problematisations and criminalisations of same-sex sexual activity and how these influenced British imperial sexual discourses that imposed legal mechanisms of control across its colonies. The production of knowledge about ‘the Orient’ is examined, noting how ideas about gender, sexuality and race contributed to justifying imperial interventions as a ‘civilising mission’, part of a broader pattern of European concepts of modernity justifying coloniality and oppression. The chapter provides relevant historical context to contemporary transnational activism strategies concerned with decriminalisation in formerly colonised states. Farmer argues that it is necessary to recognise the ways in which historical justifications for coloniality continue to impact on contemporary international relations, so that problematic reproductions of coloniality can be challenged in the pursuit of LGBT rights globally.

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previous chapter Conceptual Tools for a Decolonising, Intersectional, Transnational LGBT Activism
next chapter Contemporary Context of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in International Politics
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Metadata
Title
Unpacking the Colonial Baggage of British Imperial Sexual Discourses
Author
Matthew Farmer
Copyright Year
2020
Book
Transnational LGBT Activism and UK-Based NGOs

Print ISBN: 978-3-030-45376-3

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-45377-0

Copyright Year: 2020

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45377-0_3

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