CFP: Susan Stryker and Trans Studies, Australian Feminist Studies

Call for Papers: Susan Stryker and Trans Studies, A Special Issue of Australian Feminist Studies

Expressions of interest are sought for contributions to a planned Special Issue (SI) of Australian Feminist Studies devoted to the topic of Susan Stryker and transgender studies. When Monsters Speak: A Susan Stryker Reader (2024) showcases the essential writings of Susan Stryker from the 1990s to the present; her scholarly work, her documentaries, zines, newsletters, etc. This SI invites contributions that reflect on Stryker’s legacy and the vital role she played in choreographing the field of transgender studies. Grounded in historical studies of trans communities, social movements, and cultural production, her writing has always been on the forefront of contemporary debates in trans thought and politics. Not only has she worked alongside many important trans studies scholars in the formation of the interdisciplinary field, but inaugurated a political and epistemological shift in the way we think about bi-gender culture. Stryker’s work invites us to question presumptions about gender foundational to feminism, queer theory, medicine, modernity, governmentality, colonialisms, etc. New questions are being asked about subjectivity, embodiment, desire, technology, power, affect and fantasy.

We invite contributors to engage with Stryker’s critical body of work to better understand her legacy alongside the field of transgender studies itself. Close readings, interpretations, engagements and critiques of Stryker’s work are welcome. The SI will include thoughtful analyses of transgender studies, its multiple forms, topics, emergent issues, theoretical inspirations, methods, and relations to feminism. In the aftermath of the 2024 American election of Donald Trump who promises to end gender affirming care, sex based non-discrimination protections, and to develop additional anti-trans laws, it is vitally important to engage with what Susan Stryker calls the promise of monsters: those whose very being challenges the established order of gender in the current political climate marked by the rise of totalitarianism.

Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:

• transfeminisms
• transgender rage
• trans posthumanisms
• trans somatechnics
• trans necropolitics
• trans historiography
• trans autobiography
• trans cultural production
• trans social movements
• the institutionalisation of trans studies
• trans-normativty
• sex and sexuality in trans studies
• the coloniality of (trans)gender
• Trans of Colour Critique

Contributions can be between 6-8,000 words for research articles. Shorter polemical pieces up to 5,000 words can be considered for the ‘Feminist Debates’ section. While the expectation is that contributions will be scholarly in orientation, polemical and autobiographic pieces may also be proposed. Co-authored pieces are most welcome. All submissions will be peer-reviewed as per the journal’s policies.

EOIs should be 200 words. They should indicate what questions or ideas you wish to address, the proposed length of your submission, and your key words. Please include contact information and a 2 line biographical note.

Please send an EOI to Sheila Cavanagh (Sociology, Gender and Sexuality Studies, York University) [email protected] and Toby Anne Finlay (Sociology, Gender and Sexuality Studies, York University) [email protected] by February 16, 2025. Final papers are due on May 1, 2025. Please send inquires to the SI editors.