Comparative colonialisms for queer analysis: comparing British and Portuguese colonial legacies for same-sex sexualities and gender diversity in Africa – setting a transnational research agenda

Gomes da Costa Santos, G. and Waites, M. (2019) Comparative colonialisms for queer analysis: comparing British and Portuguese colonial legacies for same-sex sexualities and gender diversity in Africa – setting a transnational research agenda. International Review of Sociology = Revue Internationale de Sociologie, 29(2), pp. 297-326. (doi: 10.1080/03906701.2019.1641277)

[img] Text
189630.pdf - Accepted Version

317kB

Abstract

Comparative analysis of colonialisms is of critical importance, and hence this article proposes and instigates such systematic comparative research with respect to same-sex sexualities and gender diversity. We offer a historical sociological comparison of the Portuguese and British empires analysing relevant regulation, in relation to two African contexts: Mozambique, which decriminalised same-sex sexual acts in 2015, and Kenya, where criminalisation persists. Through a comparative methodology, we illuminate important differences in the regulation of same-sex sexualities and gender diversity, that have contemporary legacies: (a) the difference in timing of criminalisation of same-sex acts and its impacts in the emergence of homosexuality in colonial governance; (b) the differences in transboundary moral regulation, between colonial ideologies and between Protestant and Catholic mission practices; and (c) the difference in racialised perceptions of homosexuality as a mainly European desire (in Portuguese colonialism) or as sometimes seen as potentially occurring universally (in British colonialism). Identifying such differences can assist those aligned with queer politics to understand and engage coloniality in the present.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Waites, Dr Matthew
Authors: Gomes da Costa Santos, G., and Waites, M.
College/School:College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Sociology Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences
Journal Name:International Review of Sociology = Revue Internationale de Sociologie
Publisher:Taylor & Francis
ISSN:0390-6701
ISSN (Online):1469-9273
Published Online:17 July 2019
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2019 University of Rome 'La Sapienza'
First Published:First published in International Review of Sociology = Revue Internationale de Sociologie 29(2):297-326
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record