LIAS Working Paper Series
The Epistemologies of ‘Lockdown’: closets, vulnerability, and citizenship
Abstract
Abstract: This paper reviews current concepts from the social sciences and humanities through which to understand and interpret the sexual and gendered politics of the COVID-19 pandemic. We revisit Sedgwick’s ‘epistemology of the closet’ to think about the ways in which sexuality and gender have become known and understood in new ways through a different form of containment, the experience of COVID-19 lockdowns. This paper sets out a framework for rethinking sexual and intimate citizenship during the COVID-19 pandemic. We examine how the pandemic has impacted on the everyday negotiation of intimacy and highlighted material inequalities that impact on the lives of women and LGBTQ+ people.
Non-technical summary: This working paper provides an overview of concepts from the social sciences and humanities which might contribute to an analysis of the sexual and gendered politics of the COVID-19 pandemic. We draw parallels between the metaphor of ‘the closet’ to think about the ways in which sexuality and gender have become known and understood in new ways through a different form of containment, the experience of COVID-19 lockdowns. This paper sets out a framework for rethinking sexual and intimate citizenship during the COVID-19 pandemic. We examine how the pandemic has impacted on the everyday negotiation of intimacy and highlighted material inequalities that impact on the lives of women and LGBTQ+ people.
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.29311/lwps.202274078
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Copyright (c) 2022 Dave Ashby, Niharika Banerjea, Pascale Baker, Dhiren Borisa, Kath Browne, Cesare di Feliciantonio, Zalfa Feghali, Dylan Kerrigan, Mary McAuliffe, Aoife Neary, Gavin Brown
LIAS Working Paper Series
ISSN: 2516-4783