Queer existence under global governence: or, is global governance bad for Asian queers

The talk will center upon two major points: (1) the emerging global hegemony of morality that has quantum-leaped its assault on queer representations and queer interaction by bringing into place new legislations and litigations against them, as well as mobilizing and transforming conservative vigilance into an active surveillance network against any non-normaive sexuality; (2) the construction of child protection as a universal imperative that in actuality works both to re-enforce heterosexual monogamy and to debunk cultural diversity as inherently confusing and thus harmful for children. While global governance, as its proponents claim, may signal the weakening of state power and domination in certain national contexts; global governance, envisioned as a benign network of collaboration among the various segments of civil society, has more often than not instigated a new form of power and surveillance which has proven to be especially inimical to queers. And it is in relation to this new global development that Asian queer theory and queer activism must reconfigure their scope and engagement.

source: 'Queer Existence under Global Governence: Or, Is Global Governance Bad for Asian Queers' by Prof. Josephine Ho (National Central University, Taiwan); Abstract from Mosse Lecture; Amsterdam; 24 May 2007