Yv E. Nay departs in this talk from the specific moment in recent trans* politics in the Global North and West that is on the one hand characterized by increased rights and visibility centered on some trans* people. On the other hand, however, trans*phobic violence, disproportionately affecting economically disadvantaged, black trans* and trans* of color, and often resulting in premature death, has massively increased in the last decade. Yv will present some preliminary reflections on prevailing questions such as: What does it mean to focus on the deaths rather than the lives of Black trans* people and Trans* people of Color within institutionalized transnational trans* activism in the Global North and West? How is it—within this context—possible to shift the focus from damage and death to the vitality, futurity and hope of disenfranchised communities in trans* activism and trans scholarship?
Dr. Yv E. Nay is visiting professor for Political Science at the University of Vienna. Prior to that, Yv was Postdoc Fellow in Trans Studies at the University of Arizona, Postdoc Fellow in Gender Studies at the LSE, Postdoc Fellow at the ICI Berlin, SNSF Fellow at Columbia University and Fellow at the University of Zurich and Basel. Nay’s publications include Feeling Family (2017) and “The Atmosphere of Trans* Politics in the Global North and West“ (TSQ, 2019).