Amazon Gay Prides: Sexual modernity in wilderness?
Gay prides and same-sex marriage tend to be perceived as symbols of modernity. The non-modern is in Amazonia,
where Indigenous peoples live in a wild Eden untouched by global forces. Yet there are gay prides and same-sex
marriages in Amazonia too. There are drag queen contests in old rubber towns. Tikuna women defend homoaffective
relationships as part of ancestral rules of the clan. If Amazonia is in fact modern, then what is modernity
about and where is it located? Sexuality approaches both debunk the collective imaginary of Amazonia as detached
from world politics and disrupts associations of sexual liberation with western modernity. This talk looks at Amazon
sexualities to challenge conventional narratives of global modernity.
Manuela L. Picq, Professor of International Relations, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador
Comment: Maria Theresa Herrera Vivar, University of Innsbruck
Moderation: Lisa Pfahl, University of Innsbruck