Queer Festivals

by Konstantinos Eleftheriadis

To what extent is queer anti-identitarian? And how is it experienced by activists at the European level? At queer festivals, activists, artists and participants come together to build new forms of sociability and practice their ideals through anti-binary and inclusive idioms of gender and sexuality. These ideals are moreover channelled through a series of organisational and cultural practices that aim at the emergence of queer as a collective identity. Through the study of festivals in Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Copenhagen, and Oslo, Queer Festivals: Challenging Collective Identities in a Transnational Europe thoughtfully analyses the role of activist practices in the building of collective identities for social movement studies as well as the role of festivals as significant repertoires of collective action and sites of identitarian explorations in contemporary Europe.

216 pages, Hardcover

Published March 9, 2018

Reviews

[Carman Chew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating comparative analysis of six queer festivals in Western Europe with its central argument surrounding the paradox between festivals' claims to anti-identitarian, and yet still requiring a collective identity for political impact and for recruiting members and participants. Its strength is in its ethnography of how both the festival committee and their participants navigate this paradox, with detailed yet nuanced accounts across the class, gender and geographical spectrum.

Perhaps my only concern is how the author seems to suggest a dependency of queer festivals on squatters for their vibrancy and survival - surely, even with the problems of gentrification noted in the last chapter, the location of the festivals will simply adapt? Otherwise, great read - can really tell that much time has been put into this book!

[Casey Browne · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a fascinating comparative analysis of six queer festivals in Western Europe, with its central argument surrounding the paradox between festivals' claims to be anti-identitarian and still requiring a collective identity for political impact and recruiting members and participants. Its strength is in its ethnography of how the festival committee and their participants navigate this paradox, with detailed yet nuanced accounts across the class, gender and geographical spectrum.
Perhaps my only concern is how the author suggests a dependency of queer festivals on squatters for their vibrancy and survival. Indeed, even with the problems of gentrification noted in the last chapter, the location of the celebrations will simply adapt. Otherwise, great read - I can tell that much time has been put into this book!