The Inequalities and Democracy Workgroup of the CEU Democracy Institute cordially invites you to its public seminar.
If you would like to attend, please register here.
Please keep in mind that external guests will not be able to enter the building without prior registration.
***VENUE CHANGE***
Please note that due to the high interest, the seminar is moved to N13 Room 516A.
The seminar starts with a 25-minute presentation of the research followed by the comments of the discussant. Then the floor will be open for participants to ask questions and discuss the research. To be able to actively take part in the discussion, please read the draft paper beforehand which is available upon request from the author.
Abstract:
In a recent political wave that has been emulated across many African states, state-sponsored homophobia is being entrenched via draconian laws. Social movements in these regions grapple with countering these state-driven initiatives. Emulating strategies from other movements, local LGBTQ activists in Zimbabwe have crafted culturally rooted messages affirming the indigenous identity of queer individuals to challenge narratives propagated by influential figures and conservative movements, claiming homosexuality as un-African and foreign. Collaborating with Zimbabwean activists, this paper explores the effectiveness of two main types of locally-rooted messaging through a survey experiment in a context marked by notably high levels of homo- and transphobia on a global scale. We find that an indigenous message reduces prejudice toward LGBTQ neighbors and that a liberation message increases support for LGBTQ equal rights. These findings are important as they provide empirical support for effective ways to combat anti-LGBTQ sentiments in contexts challenging for queer liberation.
The paper is co-authored by Phillip Ayoub and Adam Harris.
Speaker:
Phillip Ayoub, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy at University College London. He also serves as an Editor of the European Journal of Politics and Gender. He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Government at Cornell University in 2013. His research bridges insights from international relations and comparative politics, engaging with literature on transnational politics, sexuality and gender, norm diffusion, and the study of social movements. He is particularly interested in how the transnational mobilization of marginalized peoples and international channels of visibility influence socio-legal change across states.
Discussant:
Andrea Krizsan is Senior Research Fellow at the Democracy Institute and Professor at the Department of Public Policy and the Gender Studies Department. She works on the politics of inequalities and equality policy interventions in countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Her current research focuses on gender equality aspects of de-democratization processes and the role of civil society in building democratic resilience and inclusive democratization processes. Besides her academic work Andrea also acts as the Chair of the CEU Senate Equal Opportunity Committee. Andrea has a PhD in Political Science from the Central European University.
Chair:
Violetta Zentai is a social anthropologist, professor at the School of Public Policy and senior research fellow at the Democracy Institute of the Central European University, Budapest-Vienna. She is also faculty member of the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology and the Doctoral School for Political Sciences and International Relations of the University. She has been founding member and advisor to the Open Learning Initiative (OLIve) program of the CEU since 2016. She co-directed the Center for Policy Studies of the CEU (2003-2020). Her research focuses on ethnic and gender inequalities, post-socialist socio-economic transformations, European social inclusion policies, and social justice and pro-equality civil society formations. She also worked as expert with the Open Society Foundations for two decades on democratic local governance, equality mainstreaming, and rights-based development.