Cultural memory in lgbt activism for rights
MEMORIGHTS investigates the uses of cultural memory in LGBT activism for rights from a memory studies perspective. Organising commemorations and exposing past LGBT rights violations, LGBT memory practices spread globally through local adaptations, impacting on public agendas. Yet, research on how cultural memory is used in activism is underdeveloped in the memory studies field, particularly with regard to the LGBT case. MEMORIGHTS addresses this knowledge gap joining a growing scholarship on the nexus memory-activism, innovatively bridging European and Latin American perspectives in the field. Taking a transnational perspective, the project analyses how commemorations, archive collections and memorial spaces are used in LGBT activism between Latin America, focusing on Argentina, and Europe, with case-studies on the Netherlands and Italy. The applicant will tailor an advanced methodological toolbox that includes semiotic discourse analysis, netnography and ethnography. The project will promote an innovative theoretical shift in focus in memory studies, towards the analysis of bottom-up transnational dynamics and beyond the traumatic model, which is dominant in the field. Studying the nexus memory-LGBT activism will allow for applications to other forms of activism and civic engagement, which may empower local actors, invigorate civil society and maximise the impact of rights dialogues in a moment of political uncertainties and growing inequalities in the EU. The outputs include three articles; an edited book; policy guidelines; a workshop for activists and professionals; two academic workshops; an international symposium. Research and training activities at the University of Utrecht, the University of Buenos Aires and the International Institute of Social History will directly benefit the applicant’s career prospects, equipping him with new skills and knowledge, and placing him at the forefront of the field as an interdisciplinary researcher.