Beyond Radical: Queer Theory and the UK

The purpose of this Network is both infrastructural and intellectual. On the one hand, it is intended to establish some of the scholarly support structures that have been missing for research in queer studies in the UK for some time. Queer theory has been having a significant impact on UK researchers for decades, yet without national infrastructure such as annual conferences, scholarly associations and dedicated journals, we have yet to realise the full benefits of coordinating this extensive research activity. At the same time, the network will demonstrate the value that this infrastructure could bring by pursuing a vibrant intellectual agenda situated at the cutting-edge of queer studies scholarship.

We are at an interesting moment in the history of queer thought. The interventions around theorising sexuality that became known as 'queer theory' have now had a more than 30-year-long life. This has prompted some scholars to suggest that the radical impetus behind these interventions has faded, while at the same time many researchers now are energised by other fields of gender and sexuality studies, such as trans studies, which are seen to be closer to more urgent social and political issues. We take this point of transition in the intellectual and political energy behind queer thought to be an excellent moment to take stock and reflect on the future orientations of queerness, which may well depart from the basis on which it has proceeded up to now.

At the same time, in the UK, as elsewhere, we face an unusual mixture of social pressures. These come from the legacy of Brexit, the continuing international impact of Black Lives Matter, reckoning with colonial histories, fierce culture wars around social values, and the ongoing environmental crisis. We take this unusual conjuncture of factors to be a moment to ask not only whether queer theoretical scholarship needs to attend to different objects (as has been argued in the past in similarly fraught moments: Eng, Halberstam and Munoz 2005), but whether we might think of how some of its defining orientations could change.

Consequently, our networking activities will concentrate on developing new agendas in four central areas, each of which addresses a foundational aspect of queer studies thinking and research:

1) Radicalism-reflecting critically on the history and current place of the 'radical' in queer theory;
2) Trans/Queer-examining the relation between 'queer' and 'trans' in the UK, when these are increasingly separated elsewhere;
3) Vernacular Identities-exploring the anti-identitarianism of queer theory and how this squares with the oft-discussed expansion of gender and sexual identity categories in recent years;
4) Queer Forms/Objects-investigating where queer 'theory' has been located and asking what scholarly objects or aesthetic forms have tended to have been deemed suitable as the basis for theory-making

For each strand, we will hold a one-day in-person networking event involving a range of both academic and non-academic network members and using a range of approaches to facilitate discussion, exchange and the generation of ideas. While non-academic voices will thread through each strand, for each one we will also feature activities designed to extend the reach, impact or longevity of the main event: whether a public engagement event, an ECR-focused networking event, or a follow-on grant workshop.

While the Network is led from the University of Manchester, it is also supported both practically and intellectually by a Steering Group: Elliot Evans (Birmingham), Sam McBean (QMUL), Rahul Rao (St Andrews), Sam Solomon (Sussex), and Xine Yao (UCL)

The Network will produce a range of academic and non-academic events, a project website featuring blog posts and other pieces of commissioned writing on the network's themes, and a special issue of a UK-based journal featuring the most innovative and exciting papers from the Network's activities.