A Queen Mary University lecturer is “working to reshape” the study of international relations by injecting into it the “vital and long-overlooked perspective” of trans theory.
Alexander Stoffel, a postdoctoral research fellow who studies “the intersections of sexuality, race, and desire within capitalist expansion,” seeks to “fundamentally rethink ” the “core assumptions” of international relations with “insights” from trans studies.
Stoffel won the 2024 Queen Mary U. of London’s Interdisciplinary Team Award for what it described as a “pioneering transfeminist research agenda” fueled by a “desire for more feminist, trans and queer theory” in the realm of international relations.
This in turn “led to the creation of a new undergraduate module, Gender, Sexuality, and Capitalism” at London-based Queen Mary University, Stoffel noted.
“We’ve had students tell us that our work has reshaped how they think about global politics,” he said.
Stoffel said one of his motivations is to give students “tools to resist and rebuild.” He said his work “connects deeply” with Pride Month: “Pride is a celebration, but also a reminder of the ongoing struggles queer and trans communities face. Our work seeks to open new space within global politics” for trans and queer theory.
“Pride, for me, is both celebration and commitment, a time to honour our histories while recommitting to the work of justice.”
Stoffel’s next project will be on the “global backlash” against transgender individuals, which he considers a “symptom of deeper crises in global capitalism.”
Stoffel, along with Ida Birkvad (who focuses on postcolonial theory and gender/sexuality at the London School of Economics), published the article “Abstractions in International Relations: on the mystification of trans, queer, and subaltern life in critical knowledge production” for the European Journal of International Relations.
That paper applies Karl Marx’s “methodological writings on abstraction” and draws a “distinction between the fetishization of abstraction and the concretization of abstraction.”
Cornell University has a class teaching “Queer Marxism.”
Wellesley College is offering a “Queer Bible” course as part of its Jewish Studies program. It provides an “introduction to the Bible at the intersection of queer theory” and “biblical interpretation.”
Colleges have also offered courses on “Queering God” and “How To Be A Bitch.” Divinity schools have proclaimed that Jesus was “queer,” and have attacked marriage, capitalism, and monogamy.
The University of Chicago course “Queering God” questions if God is queer and explores what queerness has to do with the concept of God. “What does queerness have to do with Judaism, Christianity, or Islam?” the course description reads.
Westminster College offers the course “How to Be a Bitch.” Students are encouraged to explore what it means to be a “bitch” and “bossy.”
Occidental College offers the course “Black Queer Thought.” The course critiques “the demands of heteronormativity, white supremacy, patriarchy and capitalism.”
The University of California at Berkeley hosted a taxpayer-funded lecture on the “Queering of Agriculture.”
Colleges have also held events such as “Queering Menstruation” and “Anal 101.”
