The Queer in/of International Relations
- LAST REVIEWED: 24 August 2020
- LAST MODIFIED: 15 January 2019
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199743292-0177
- LAST REVIEWED: 24 August 2020
- LAST MODIFIED: 15 January 2019
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199743292-0177
Introduction
The term queer theory came into being in academia as the name of a 1990 conference hosted by Teresa de Lauretis at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a follow-up special issue of the journal differences. In that sense, queer theory is newer to the social sciences and humanities than many of the ideas that are included in this bibliographic collection (e.g., realism or liberalism), both native to International Relations (IR) and outside of it. At the same time, queer theory is newer to IR than it is to the social sciences and humanities more broadly—becoming recognizable as an approach to IR very recently. Like many other critical approaches to IR, queer theory existed and was developed outside of the discipline in intricate ways before versions of it were imported into IR. While early proponents of queer theory, including de Lauretis, Judith Butler, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, and Lauren Berlant, had different ideas of what was included in queer theory and what its objectives were, they agreed that it included the rejection of heterosexuality as the standard for understanding sexuality, recognizing the heterogeneity of sex and gender figurations, and the co-constitution of racialized and sexualized subjectivities. Many scholars saw these realizations as a direction not only for rethinking sexuality, and for rethinking theory itself—where “queer is by definition whatever is at odds with the normal, the legitimate, the dominant,” as Halperin has described in Saint Foucault: Towards a Gay Hagiography (Halperin 1995, cited under Queer as a Concept, p. 62). A few scholars at the time, and more now, have expressed skepticism in the face of enthusiasm about a queer theory revolution—arguing that “the appeal of ‘queer theory’ has outstripped anyone’s sense of what exactly it means” (Michael Warner, cited in Jagose’s Queer Theory: An Introduction [Jagose 1997, cited under Textbooks, p. 1]) and that the appeal of the notion of queer theory (“queer is hot”) has overshadowed any intellectual payoff it might have, as explored in the article “What Does Queer Theory Teach Us about X?” (Berlant and Warner 1995, cited under Queer as a Concept). Were this bibliography attempting to capture the history and controversies of queer theory generally, it would be outdated and repetitive. Instead, it focuses on the ways that queer theory has been imported into, and engaged with, in disciplinary IR—looking, along the way, to provide enough information from queer theory generally to make the origins and intellectual foundations of “queer IR” intelligible. In IR, the recognition of queer theory is relatively new, as Weber has highlighted in her article “Why Is There No Queer International Theory?” (Weber 2015, cited under From IR/Queer to Queer IR). The utilization of queer theory in IR scholarship is not new, however. Scholars like Cynthia Weber and Spike Peterson were viewing IR through queer lenses in the 1990s—but that queer theorizing was rendered discursively impossible by assemblages on mainstream/gender IR. This annotated bibliography traces (visible and invisible) contributions to “queer IR,” with links to work in queer theory that informs those moves. After discussing in some detail “queer” as a concept, this essay situates queer theorizing within both social and political theory broadly defined first by engaging aspects of queer global studies including nationalism, global citizenship, homonormativity, and the violence of inclusion, and second by examining the theoretical and empirical contributions of a body of scholarship coming to be known as “queer IR.”
General Overviews
The relative newness of queer theory to IR, the relative newness of queer theory generally, and the continued marginalization of queer theory in IR mean that “queer IR” does not have textbooks, journals, and methods texts in the same way that many other approaches to IR do. At the same time, some queer theory texts and journals have a global dimension, and some IR texts have queer dimensions. This section explores both.
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Article
- Academic Theories of International Relations Since 1945
- Alliances
- Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
- Al-Shabaab
- Arab-Israeli Wars
- Arab-Israeli Wars, 1967-1973, The
- Armed Conflicts/Violence against Civilians Data Sets
- Arms Control
- Arms Races
- Arms Trade
- Asylum Policies
- Audience Costs and the Credibility of Commitments
- Authoritarian Regimes
- Balance of Power Theory
- Bargaining Theory of War
- Battle
- Boko Haram
- Brazilian Foreign Policy, The Politics of
- Canadian Foreign Policy
- Case Study Methods in International Relations
- Casualties and Politics
- Causation in International Relations
- Central Europe
- Challenge of Communism, The
- China and Japan
- China's Defense Policy
- China’s Foreign Policy
- Chinese Approaches to Strategy
- Cities and International Relations
- Civil Resistance
- Civil Society in the European Union
- Cold War, The
- Colonialism
- Comparative Foreign Policy Security Interests
- Comparative Regionalism
- Complex Systems Approaches to Global Politics
- Conflict Behavior and the Prevention of War
- Conflict Management
- Conflict Management in the Middle East
- Constructivism
- Contemporary Shia–Sunni Sectarian Violence
- Corruption
- Counterinsurgency
- Countermeasures in International Law
- Coups and Mutinies
- Criminal Law, International
- Critical Theory of International Relations
- Cuban Missile Crisis, The
- Cultural Diplomacy
- Cyber Security
- Cyber Warfare
- Decision-Making, Poliheuristic Theory of
- Demobilization, Post World War I
- Democracies and World Order
- Democracy and Conflict
- Democracy in World Politics
- Deterrence Theory
- Development
- Diasporas
- Digital Diplomacy
- Diplomacy
- Diplomacy, Gender and
- Diplomacy, History of
- Diplomacy in the ASEAN
- Diplomacy, Public
- Disaster Diplomacy
- Diversionary Theory of War
- Drone Warfare
- Eastern Front (World War I)
- Economic Coercion and Sanctions
- Economics, International
- Embedded Liberalism
- Emerging Powers and BRICS
- Emotions
- Empirical Testing of Formal Models
- Energy and International Security
- Environmental Peacebuilding
- Epidemic Diseases and their Effects on History
- Ethics and Morality in International Relations
- Ethnicity in International Relations
- European Migration Policy
- European Security and Defense Policy, The
- European Union as an International Actor
- European Union, International Relations of the
- Experiments
- Face-to-Face Diplomacy
- Fascism, The Challenge of
- Feminist Methodologies in International Relations
- Feminist Security Studies
- Food Security
- Forecasting in International Relations
- Foreign Aid and Assistance
- Foreign Direct Investment
- Foreign Policy Decision-Making
- Foreign Policy of Non-democratic Regimes
- Foreign Policy of Saudi Arabia
- Foreign Policy, Theories of
- French Empire, 20th-Century
- From Club to Network Diplomacy
- Future of NATO
- Game Theory and Interstate Conflict
- Gender and Terrorism
- Genocide
- Genocide, Politicide, and Mass Atrocities Against Civilian...
- Genocides, 20th Century
- Geopolitics and Geostrategy
- Germany in World War II
- Global Citizenship
- Global Civil Society
- Global Constitutionalism
- Global Environmental Politics
- Global Ethic of Care
- Global Governance
- Global Justice, Western Perspectives
- Globalization
- Governance of the Arctic
- Grand Strategy
- Greater Middle East, The
- Greek Crisis
- Hague Conferences (1899, 1907)
- Hegemony
- Hezbollah
- Hierarchies in International Relations
- History and International Relations
- Human Nature in International Relations
- Human Rights
- Human Rights and Humanitarian Diplomacy
- Human Rights, Feminism and
- Human Rights Law
- Human Security
- Hybrid Warfare
- Ideal Diplomat, The
- Idealism
- Identity and Foreign Policy
- Ideology, Values, and Foreign Policy
- Illicit Trade and Smuggling
- Imperialism
- Indian Foreign Policy
- Indian Perspectives on International Relations, War, and C...
- Indigenous Rights
- Industrialization
- Intelligence
- Intelligence Oversight
- Internal Displacement
- International Conflict Settlements, The Durability of
- International Criminal Court, The
- International Economic Organizations (IMF and World Bank)
- International Health Governance
- International Justice, Theories of
- International Law
- International Monetary Relations, History of
- International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
- International Nongovernmental Organizations
- International Norms for Cultural Preservation and Cooperat...
- International Organizations
- International Relations, Aesthetic Turn in
- International Relations as a Social Science
- International Relations, Practice Turn in
- International Relations, Research Ethics in
- International Relations Theory
- International Security
- International Society
- International Society, Theorizing
- International Support For Nonstate Armed Groups
- Internet Law
- Interstate Cooperation Theory and International Institutio...
- Intervention and Use of Force
- Interviews and Focus Groups
- Iran, Politics and Foreign Policy
- Iraq: Past and Present
- Japanese Foreign Policy
- Just War Theory
- Korean War
- Kurdistan and Kurdish Politics
- Law of the Sea
- Laws of War
- Leadership in International Affairs
- Leadership Personality Characteristics and Foreign Policy
- League of Nations
- Lean Forward and Pull Back Options for US Grand Strategy
- Liberalism
- Marxism
- Mediation and Civil Wars
- Mediation in International Conflicts
- Mediation via International Organizations
- Memory and World Politics
- Mercantilism
- Middle East, The Contemporary
- Middle East, The Contemporary
- Middle Powers and Regional Powers
- Military Science
- Minorities in the Middle East
- Minority Rights
- Morality in Foreign Policy
- Multilateralism (1992–), Return to
- National Liberation, International Law and Wars of
- National Security Act of 1947, The
- Nation-Building
- Nations and Nationalism
- NATO
- NATO, Europe, and Russia: Security Issues and the Border R...
- Natural Resources, Energy Politics, and Environmental Cons...
- Neorealism
- New Multilateralism in the Early 21st Century
- Nigeria
- Nonproliferation and Counterproliferation
- Nonviolent Resistance Datasets
- Normative Aspects of International Peacekeeping
- Normative Power Beyond the Eurocentric Frame
- Nuclear Proliferation
- Peace Education in Post-Conflict Zones
- Peace of Utrecht
- Peacebuilding, Post-Conflict
- Peacekeeping
- Piracy
- Political Demography
- Political Economy of National Security
- Political Extremism in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Political Learning and Socialization
- Political Psychology
- Politics and Islam in Turkey
- Politics and Nationalism in Cyprus
- Politics of Extraction: Theories and New Concepts for Crit...
- Politics of Resilience
- Popuism and Global Politics
- Popular Culture and International Relations
- Post-Civil War State
- Post-Conflict and Transitional Justice
- Post-Conflict Reconciliation in the Middle East and North ...
- Power Transition Theory
- Preventive War and Preemption
- Prisoners, Treatment of
- Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs)
- Process Tracing Methods
- Pro-Government Militias
- Proliferation
- Prospect Theory in International Relations
- Psychoanalysis in Global Politics and International Relati...
- Psychology and Foreign Policy
- Public Opinion and Foreign Policy
- Public Opinion and the European Union
- Quantum Social Science
- Race and International Relations
- Realism
- Rebel Governance
- Reconciliation
- Reflexivity and International Relations
- Religion and International Relations
- Religiously Motivated Violence
- Reputation in International Relations
- Responsibility to Protect
- Rising Powers in World Politics
- Role Theory in International Relations
- Russian Foreign Policy
- Russian Revolutions and Civil War, 1917–1921
- Sanctions
- Sanctions in International Law
- Science Diplomacy
- Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), The
- Secrecy and Diplomacy
- Securitization
- Self-Determination
- Shining Path
- Sinophone and Japanese International Relations Theory
- Social Scientific Theories of Imperialism
- Sovereignty
- Soviet Union in World War II
- Space Strategy, Policy, and Power
- Spatial Dependencies and International Mediation
- State Theory in International Relations
- Statehood
- Status in International Relations
- Strategic Air Power
- Strategic and Net Assessments
- Sub-Saharan Africa, Conflict Formations in
- Sustainable Development
- Systems Theory
- Teaching International Relations
- Territorial Disputes
- Terrorism
- Terrorism and Poverty
- Terrorism, Geography of
- Terrorist Financing
- Terrorist Group Strategies
- The Changing Nature of Diplomacy
- The Politics and Diplomacy of Neutrality
- The Politics and Diplomacy of the First World War
- The Queer in/of International Relations
- the Twenty-First Century, Alliance Commitments in
- The Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relation...
- Theories of International Relations, Feminist
- Theory, Chinese International Relations
- Time Series Approaches to International Affairs
- Trade Law
- Transnational Actors
- Transnational Law
- Transnational Social Movements
- Trust and International Relations
- Turkey
- UN Security Council
- United Nations, The
- United States and Asia, The
- Uppsala Conflict Data Program
- US and Africa
- US–UK Special Relationship
- Voluntary International Migration
- War
- War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714)
- Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Western Balkans
- Western Front (World War I)
- Westphalia, Peace of (1648)
- Women and Peacemaking Peacekeeping
- World Economy 1919-1939
- World Polity School
- World War II Diplomacy and Political Relations
- World-System Theory