Title: Identity and Politics: LGBTIQ Social Movements and Political Mobilization in the Philippines
Speakers: Alex Chartrand
(Graduate Student, Research Center on Southeast Asian Studies, University of Montréal in Canada)

Date: September 18th (Fri.), 2015, 16:00 – 18:00
Place: Tonan-tei Room No. 201, Inamori Foundation Memorial Building, CSEAS, Kyoto University

Abstract:
For my Master degree in Political science, I would like to study social movements in the Philippines concerned with Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans Intersex and Queer (LGBTIQ) issues. Particularly, I am interested in the dynamism inherent to these organizations and how this is reflected when it comes to promoting a common agenda.

Actually, I would be interested in answering the following questions: how is the dynamism of these movements reflected in the promotion of
anti-discrimination measures like the Anti-Discrimination Bill and other
cities’ ordinances? Accordingly, what are the priorities of the different LGBTIQ actors involved and what mobilization techniques are deemed as more effective? Moreover, I am studying whether or not the work around these specific measures represents a mean for a better cooperation between NGOs and hence a more important general support.

On the other hand, I would like to integrate a discussion on identity
formations as applied to the LGBTIQ communities and how these in turn can affect the development of social movements. I am interested in this topic because it is more marginalized in Political science, although it has gained a greater importance in order fields of social sciences, such as Sociology (Smith et Lee, 2014). Furthermore, I would be interested in identifying how issues of gender and sexuality in the Philippines can be linked to the broader debates on mobilization and social movements.

During my stay in the Philippines, I will be realizing interviews in order to identify in more details the processes of civil mobilization of the LGBTIQ community when it comes to the promotion of specific agendas. By focusing on the anti-discrimination measures, I hope to be able to analyze how cooperation has been built around these projects and how popular support has been mobilized. It is relevant to note that, considering the limitations inherent to my research, I will mainly focus on Manila. Consequently, this research will have a more urban perspective on the question.

When it comes to the theoretical frameworks being used for this research, I wish to integrate aspects of the queer theory and of the intersectional approach. As for the queer theory, which would be linked to the discussion on identity formation, I would like to adopt an approach similar to the one elaborated by Martin Manalansan in his book Global Divas. He proposes in this research what he calls the New Queer Theory, which can be defined as follow: “a more nuanced understanding of the traffic and travel of competing systems of desire in a transnational frame » (Manalansan, 2006, p.6). This is relevant in assessing how identities can be built on multiple levels, whether local, national, regional or international. By taking this critical stance, this research remains sensitive to the importance of the
contextualization of LGBTIQ issues in the Philippines while also pointing to an important part of the advocacy work of the related NGOs. Linking international and regional concepts with localized understanding of LGBTIQ issues can be an important portion of these organisations’ actions, which requires building of educational programs and development of workshops for the different communities they intend to reach.

When it comes to the intersectionality framework, I am interested in how it requires from academics to analyse the relationship between multiple forms of social inequities. More than an identification of different sources of oppression, intersectionality is a way to understand the complexity of their interactions and how they reproduce discriminatory practices (Bilge, 2009, p.70). It is also an interesting framework to integrate for this research considering how many LGBTIQ advocates are talking about it, fostering a more nuanced knowledge of the multiple sources of discriminations they are trying to solve. Accordingly, by integrating the intersectionality arguments, these advocates are trying to put forward solutions that are more sensitive and encompassing of these different discriminatory contexts.

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Non-exhaustive Bibliography

Bilge, Sirma. 2009. « Théorisations féministes de l’intersectionnalité
». Diogène, vol.1, no 225, pp. 70-88.

Eng, David L. et al. 2005. « What’s Queer About Queer Studies Now? ».
Unamesa. En ligne.

Harper, Phillip Brian et al. 1997. « Queer Transexions of Race,
Nation, and Gender: An Introduction ». Social Text, no. 52-53, p. 1-4

Jagose, Annamarie. 1996. Queer Theory: An Introduction. New York : New
York University Press.

Manalansan, Martin F. 2006. Global Divas: Philippine Edition. Manille
: Ateneo de Manila University Press.

Mucciaroni, Gary. 2011. « The Study of LGBT Politics and Its
Contributions to Political Science ». Symposium: The State of
LGBT/Sexuality Studies in Political Science, p. 17-21.

Piper Nicola et Anders Uhlin. 2004. Transnational Activism in Asia:
Problems of Power and Democracy. London : Routledge.

Smith, Nicola J. et Donna Lee. 2014. « What’s Queer About Political
Science? ». The British Journal of Politics and International
Relations, p. 1-15.

Stone, Amy L. 2010. « Diversity, Dissent, and Decision Making: The
Challenge to LGBT Politics ». GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay
Studies, vol. 16, no 3, p. 465-472.

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Moderator: Tsukasa IGA, CSEAS IPCR Researcher, Kyoto University