Review Article: Curiosity, Paradox and Dissatisfaction: Queer Analyses of Human Rights
| Date | 01 September 2018 |
| Author | Anthony J. Langlois |
| DOI | 10.1177/0305829818783262 |
| Published date | 01 September 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Review Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0305829818783262
Millennium: Journal of
International Studies
2018, Vol. 47(1) 153 –165
© The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0305829818783262
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Review Article: Curiosity,
Paradox and Dissatisfaction:
Queer Analyses of Human
Rights
Anthony J. Langlois
Flinders University, Australia
Abstract
Three recent books are discussed which offer queer analyses of attempts to protect lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people from violence and discrimination using the
international human rights regime. A common theme is the way in which equal rights are invoked
and institutionalised to address prejudice, discrimination and violence. The take, however, is
critical: while it may be a remarkable turn of events that the United Nations (UN) and similar
institutions have become LGBTI advocates, such Damascene conversions generate their own
dilemmas and rarely resolve structural and conceptual paradoxes. This article foregrounds the
curiosity of queer scholars engaged with the application of human rights to matters of sexuality
and gender, observes how they articulate the paradoxes and dissatisfactions that are produced
in this normatively and politically charged field, and draws out the limitations and complexities of
rights politics in combating systemic exclusion.
Keywords
human rights, queer, LGBTI rights
Résumé
La discussion porte sur trois ouvrages récents, qui utilisent la théorie queer pour analyser
des tentatives de protection de membres de la communauté LGBTI contre la violence et la
discrimination par le biais du régime international des droits humains. Un thème commun est la
manière dont l’égalité des droits est convoquée et institutionnalisée afin de répondre au préjudice,
Ă la discrimination et Ă la violence. Ce point de vue est toutefois crucial: les Nations Unies
et d’autres institutions similaires, il est vrai, ont changé la donne de manière remarquable en
devenant porte-paroles des groupes LGBTI, mais les conversions si éclatantes génèrent souvent
leurs propres dilemmes, et manquent généralement de résoudre les paradoxes structurels et
Corresponding author:
Anthony J. Langlois, College of Business, Government & Law, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide,
SA 5001, Australia.
Email: anthony.langlois@flinders.edu.au
783262MIL0010.1177/0305829818783262Millennium – Journal of International StudiesLanglois
review-article2018
Review Article
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