School of Social and Political Science

Description

Abstract

Since the 1970s, historians have claimed that an insatiable “will to know” has powered the growing concern with male homosexuality across Europe and the West, especially from the late nineteenth century onwards. Unwilling To Know challenges this dominant narrative by demonstrating how, unlike in neighboring France, Germany, and Britain, a mixture of silence and code surrounded homosexuality in Belgium until well after the Second World War. Whereas countless scientific monographs on homosexuality were published in wider Europe during the fin de siècle, the lack of publishing in Belgium was combined with a marked lack of interest from the police, psychiatrists and wider society. Through internationally comparative analyses, and with particular reference to the importance of religion, this book complicates overly monolithic views of European developments based on a handful of familiar national cases.

Organised by GENDER.ED, co-badged with the Histories of Gender and Sexualities Research Group.

A light lunch will be provided.

Speaker Bio

Wannes Dupont is a Lecturer in the History of Sexuality at the University of Edinburgh. His research focuses on queer history, reproductive politics, and the intersections of biopolitics and religion.

Registration

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This is a free event, which means we overbook to allow for no-shows and to avoid empty seats. While we generally do not have to turn people away, this does mean we cannot guarantee everyone a place. Admission is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Please note, filming, recording and/or photography may take place at this event.

If you have any queries regarding this event, please email gender.ed@ed.ac.uk.