New paper in Theology and Sexuality 23.1-2

I'm delighted to have a paper in the new issue of Theology and Sexuality, which has been guest-edited by Colby Dickinson and Meghan Toomey and is entitled Queering Theology's Object. The special issue aims to give an overview of the current state of the field, and my own paper is entitled "Home and Hiddenness: Queer Theology, Domestication and Institutions".

Abstract:

This essay examines tropes of hiddenness and domestication in queer theology, particularly in light of the increasing mainstreaming of queer theologies in institutional (e.g. university, seminary, church) settings, and the inclusion of queer theologies by straight academics and teachers on their syllabi. Drawing on James C. Scott’s work on revolution as a luxury of the elite (by way of the Arab Spring, the UK riots of 2011, and the US demonstrations in 2014), and J. Halberstam’s construction of “failure” as a strategy of queer resistance, I ask whether there will continue to be a role for “shadow queernesses” which reject institutional acceptability. However, I also suggest that the increased visibility of queer theology within mainstream institutions does not inevitably imply compromise or “toothlessness,” but may in fact testify to the pre-existing presence of queer diversity in multiple contexts and the inhabitation by queer scholars of various “homes.”

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13558358.2017.1341207