Excited to share my newest publication “Brutality on display: media coverage and the spectacle of anti-LGBTQ violence in the Colombian Civil War” in
@thirdworldq
, where I explore the the role of brutality in the visual coverage of anti-LGBTQ violence
An overdue 🧵: Earlier this year, I successfully defended my dissertation 'Civil War & the Politics of Difference: Paramilitary Violence against LGBT People in Colombia' at
@UniofOxford
, where I theorized the relationship between anti-LGBT violence & wartime social transformation
Really honored to have received the Elizabeth Wiskemann Prize for best dissertation on (in)equality & social justice by the
@PolStudiesAssoc
for my doctoral research on anti-LGBTIQ violence during the Colombian Civil War
Congratulations to
@SamRitholtz
who has been awarded the Elizabeth Wiskemann Prize for best dissertation by the
@PolStudiesAssoc
! 🥳
Read more about Sam's success:
Big news!!! My fav
@RebeccaBuxton
& I have just signed a contract for our new book ‘Toward a Queer Theory of Refuge’ with
@NaomiUCPress
. The text uses queer theory, political theory, & analytical philosophy to reconsider how we theorize and make claims about LGBTIQ+ displacement.
📣 Life update 📰 I am starting a new chapter this week as a Max Weber Fellow at the
@EUI_EU
🥹 I will continue my work on the lives of LGBT people in conflict as well as expand my research to the broader phenomenon of violence against social difference during civil war
So happy to share a call for papers in
@JRefugeeStudies
on LGBTIQ+ people in situations of forced displacement! Please share & distribute, we’re seeking new voices & fresh takes from all approaches and disciplines. Submissions can be in English or Spanish!
Thrilled to share my piece in the
@guardian
with
@kiranstallone
about the amazing work of
@Caribeafirmativ
and the extraordinary vibrancy of the LGBT community in El Carmen de Bolívar.
A queer theorist and a political philosopher walk into a bar... and start writing. Thrilled to share my new piece with
@RebeccaBuxton
in Migration Studies on the rights of queer & trans refugees to have their chosen families recognized by States.
Fun to check out and hold my new co-edited volume ‘Queer Conflict Research’ at
#ISA2024
, particularly after a powerful panel on the topic.
For those of you still in town, join me and
@Jamiejhagen
tonight at 6pm at Harlequin for a happy hour to celebrate the pub launch!
A great birthday present: my
@apsrjournal
piece with
@RebeccaBuxton
, ‘Sanctuary after Asylum: Addressing a Gap in the Political Theory of Refuge’, has been officially published in Volume 117 Issue 3 🥳
🚩1 week until the publication of the edited volume 'Queer Conflict Research' with
@Jamiejhagen
&
@a_delatolla
The text serves as a guide for early career researchers studying gender & sexuality in violent contexts
Please share & order for your library!
🚩an exciting milestone today.
@Jamiejhagen
@a_delatolla
& I submitted our edited volume manuscript: Queering Conflict Research. We envision this text as a guide for early career researchers interested in queer approaches to conflict studies. It’s the text we wish we had as PhDs!
Exciting milestone: Just submitted the manuscript for the edited volume Queering Conflict Research I'm editing with
@SamRitholtz
&
@a_delatolla
. Anticipated pub date with Bristol University Press Gender, Sexuality & Global Politics series: Summer 2023. Now over to the reviewers!
Happy
#ISA2021
week! For those of you cool cats wondering what panel to attend on Thursday at 6:30pm EST, might I suggest my panel on Queer and gender topics in the study of conflict, including the fab
@JZulver
@LuciaBaca
@MariaDDVillamil
with icon
@Jamiejhagen
as discussant?
Excited to announce a call for abstracts/papers for a special issue on 'Queer Peacebuilding' of la Revista de Estudios Sociales (
@Uniandes
) with
@Jamiejhagen
@Melaniejudge
& Fernando Serrano! More information here:
My heart grieves for the Hazara community in Afghanistan after this weekend's school bombing. The international community must do more to protect the civilians vulnerable to the violence of this protracted conflict.
A privilege to review Lee Ann Fuji’s new book “Show Time: the logic and power of violent display” w/
@CornellPress
for
@IAJournal_CH
. She has been a huge inspiration in my own work and this text reinforces her unique brilliance. A scholar lost too soon 💔.
Just learned the concept of 'Ontological Security' at a fabulous
#ISA2021
panel chaired by
@BrentJSteele1
.... and I don't think my planned work schedule will be able to compensate for the wormhole I'm about to dive into...if I have a deadline with you....sorry in advance x
Fitting that on the Friday of
#ISA2022
, I can announce my new paper "The Ontology of Cruelty in Civil War: the analytical utility of characterizing violence in conflict studies" in the
@isanet
open-access journal
@GSQ_Journal
Really excited to be joining
@Hertie_Security
for the year as a research fellow! Will be continuing my work on the wartime targeting of social minorities by state & non-state actors and will also start considering the digital elements of their targeting
Can someone explain to me why Colombia remains on the UK red list? Is it the Mu variant? Because, from what I know, Delta is the main variant there….and the entire country has a tenth of the cases that London has….
!! The fab
@RebeccaBuxton
& I have a forthcoming
@apsrjournal
paper, “Sanctuary after Asylum”, where we consider the experiences of LGBTQ asylum seekers to ultimately question the efficacy of territorial asylum in a world where harms transcend borders !!
A labor of love to write this piece on the incredible
@ColegioCuerpo
for the
@guardian
with exceptional photography from Carlos Saavedra. One of the most powerful places that I have ever been
Excited to share
@suyvonne
,
@Ty_Valiquette
& I have won an
@SSHRC_CRSH
Insight Dev Grant for our project “At the Edge of Safety”, a comparison of how humanitarian regimes in Brazil & Colombia impact Venezuelan LGBT refugees’ lives! Exciting collab b/n
@refugeestudies
&
@CRSYorkU
!
It has been such a joy to host
@sarahschulman3
in Oxford with
@oxqueerstudies
. Sarah did a novel writing workshop with students & had a brilllll conversation with
@amiasrinivasan
on the importance of history in feminist theorizing and movement building
Today! Uni members are welcome to an
#LGBTplusHM
event in MRB seminar room G at 5pm:
🏳️🌈📚Book launch event for 'Queer Conflict Research - New Approaches to the Study of Political Violence' by
@SamRitholtz
@Jamiejhagen
&
@a_delatolla
.
👉
Thrilled to share my new article with icon
@Graemecreid
in
@PoliticsGenderJ
!
The article builds off
@hrw
reporting during the Covid-19 pandemic to highlight the risks associated with a monolithic understanding of LGBT vulnerability during crisis
For the last year, there have been mounting efforts by the Meloni Government and certain courts to deny parental rights to same-sex couples in Italy. Today in the
@ConversationUK
@Conversation_E
,
@maggierneil
& I explain these attacks on rainbow families.
“Using the empirical case of Colombia, Samuel Ritholtz explores the ontology of cruelty in civil war and introduces a new theoretical framework that reveals both the physical and ontological impacts of violence on civilian populations.”
Today we are pleased to begin sharing our first special issue Cruelty and Global Politics, beginning with the introductory article from our editors-in-chief
@BrentJSteele1
&
@suboticjelena
Read OPEN ACCESS here:
It was an extraordinary (and terrifying) experience to have
@SKalyvas
and Dara Kay Cohen as my examiners: two scholars whose influence is etched into every word of this dissertation. A special thanks to them both for so closely engaging with my work and pushing me to be bold.
Today,
@suyvonne
& I have a piece in the
@washingtonpost
@monkeycageblog
about the unique needs of LGBT Ukrainian refugees.
Our main takeaway: vulnerabilities exist beyond intentional acts of prejudice and are often the result of structural exclusion.
What does refuge mean when persecution can persist even in states of asylum?
In the
@apsrjournal
today,
@RebeccaBuxton
and I ask this question when considering the case of a gay Moroccan asylum seeker who experienced new forms of homophobia in the UK.
I have a new paper out in
@ERSjournal
that explores three philosophical questions related to LGBT displacement in refugee studies:
1. If young people leave home because of anti-LGBT prejudice, should we consider their flight a form of displacement? (1/7)
At Oxford, I'll continue my work on LGBTIQ+ experiences of conflict, crisis, and displacement as well as ask new questions about the role of stigma, marginality, and brutality in contentious politics...and I'll be available to support the incredible research of our grad students!
Our
@wrawproject
workshop with women affected by war, led Lucila Quieto & Natalia Fortuny (with Radar & the inimitable
@SamRitholtz
) was incredible — a chance to think about how photographs & collage enable the disappeared to continue to be with us. Launching tomorrow in
#Bogot
á!
I have a new article with
@newhumanitarian
on the particular challenges faced by the LGBTIQ community during the pandemic. Without proper consideration, even inocuous relief efforts can perpetuate discrimination and inequality. Thank you to everyone who helped with my research!
Not considered a “family” in the eyes of local government, a lesbian couple in the Philippines were denied COVID-19 food aid. And that’s just one of many similar stories.
Thrilled to speak this Friday at 12pm EST at
@BarnardDHC
with
@mengiatschalaer
and Eithne Luibheid about our work on queer migration in a forthcoming SI with
@ERSjournal
. My paper considers the impact of heteronormative biases in refugee studies. Join us:
This weekend I published in
@Slate
on the divergence in discourse around trans rights in the US and UK. I argued that core to this divergence was a difference in feminist philosophical approaches. I then explored the impact of this difference.
Excited to present this Thursday at
@Hertie_Security
on why armed actors attempt to annihilate social difference through acts of extreme violence during war. My opening puzzle: why do armed actors at the center of conflict concern themselves with those at the margin? Join us!
The dissertation would not have been possible without the support of my supervisors
@alexander_betts
and
@Masooda_Bano
and other 'checkpoint examiners' at Oxford,
@aruggeri_eu
, Leigh Payne, and Jocelyn Alexander. I hope this dissertation accurately reflects their wisdom shared.
To celebrate 🏳️🌈pride🏳️⚧️ month and preface our SI on the LGBTIQ+ displaced, I worked with the
@JRefugeeStudies
&
@SarahNandi_
to produce a virtual thematic issue on LGBTIQ+ refugees that rereleases 5 articles to show how scholarship on this topic has evolved.
One of my favorite people on earth has won a Pulitzer and for that, I’ll sleep a little easier tonight. Mazel tov to
@DrMChatelain
, author, historian, kaftan kueen
I did an interview with the wonderful
@Shohineee
for
@E_IR
on my approach to the study of queer subjects in international relations, & particularly, in refugee & conflict studies. It was a terrifying experience, but always wonderful to speak about topics close to my 💛
My brilliant best friend
@JZulver
has a new book out on women’s social mobilization in highly violent contexts. This book (& this scholar 🤩) exemplify all that I hope to achieve with my own work: deeply connected fieldwork, rigorous analysis, strong theory, & lots of human grace
This week, I attended
#APSA2022
in Montreal to present my research on variation in anti-LGBT violence during the Colombian civil war…but I forgot to tweet about it 🌚 thank you, Katie, for the support!
Come join us tonight at the
@refugeestudies
centre for a wonderful panel discussion on the study and protection of displaced LGBT+ people. Looking forward to the discussion!
@mengiatschalaer
@ODID_QEH
Ha sido un placer profundo de aprender del trabajo excepcional de organizaciones en Colombia como
@Caribeafirmativ
y
@ColombiaDiversa
, también de colegas
@malbarracin
,
@tutiperalta28
, Juanita Leon, Fernando-Serrano Amaya, Daniela Diaz Villamil, Diana Osorio, y Carlos Saavedra.
📣It is a pleasure to announce the books shortlisted for the Conflict Research Society (CRS) Book Prize📣
The
@CRS_INFO
Book Prize committee has shortlisted four books
@coboje
@sini_malesevic
@EPerkoski
@JZulver
(listed in alphabetical order):
Over the years, many other scholars have generously provided feedback on my work, helping me grow as a scholar and as a colleague. Too many people to tag on Twitter, so I will share this section of my acknowledgments as an awkward placeholder.
This piece by
@SamRitholtz
on cruelty in civil war will be of interest to those studying the central place that Shklar gives to cruelty in "Ordinary Vices".
It was such a great experience to participate in the Oxford Peace Security and Conflict Hub Workshop! Thank you
@aruggeri_eu
and
@VilhelminaAna
for organizing!
@SamRitholtz
explores variation in wartime homophobic violence in Colombia,questioning why & how these groups are targeted. He points out that targeting LGBTIQ+ people facilitates a social transformation through the production of a stigma that comes from violent victimisation.4/
A really beautiful obituary for Professor Gil Loescher. Gil lived an extraordinary life and his scholarship inspired me to pursue study in the field of forced migration. Such a great loss for the world and our community at the
@refugeestudies
Centre.
At least 22 people were killed in the attack on U.N. headquarters in Baghdad in 2003, and more than 100 were wounded. Of the seven people in the room with Mr. Loescher, only he survived.
An incredibly well done and sobering report by
@WilliamsPolicy
on the challenges experienced by LGBTQI migrants and asylum seekers. See Ari’s thread here for highlights and identified research gaps.
Excited to share our new report on
#LGBTQI
#refugees
and
#asylum
seekers. We find LGBTQI migrants are particularly vulnerable to discrimination, persecution, and violence throughout migratory process.
But numerous data and research gaps remain.
🧵 1/x
Presenting 2 papers at
#ISA2021
today:
12:30 pm on 'Queer Epistemology and Refugee Studies' in RD20 Regional Trends in Migration
6:30pm on 'Gendered Violence, Moral Order, and Social Control in Colombia's Internal Armed Conflict' in RH30 Queer and Gender Approaches to Conflict
Really excited to present, at the
@uclconflict
workshop, a section of my dissertation on the relationship between sexual violence and homo/transphobic violence by armed actors during the Colombian internal armed conflict. Happy to share the paper with anyone interested!
Today, we are delighted to begin our annual
#PhDworkshop
@uclspp
on the Dynamics of Conflict & Change. Supported by faculty & external discussants from around the world, the workshop allows participants to present their work, engage with the work of others, and socialise.
DPIR's
@SamRitholtz
& co-authors
@Jamiejhagen
&
@a_delatolla
are publishing the edited volume 'Queer Conflict Research' this
#LGBTplusHM
🏳️🌈🥳
Uni members can join us on Monday 19th for a book launch event including panel discussion & drinks reception.
👉
Absolutely spinning out on
@chrisaguis
@BergmanRosamond
Catarina Kinvall's
#isa2021
paper regarding gendered responses to ontological insecurity by right-wing populists 🌀🌀🌀🌀
As it's been clear to me throughout my education that personal achievements result from my community, I want to thank the five people who inspired & pushed me to pursue the DPhil:
@DrMChatelain
,
@Cindy_Y_Huang
,
@AndrewOwenRich
, N'Dri Assié-Lumumba, and Wendy Wolford.
Thrilled to share that
@RebeccaBuxton
and my piece on ‘Queer kinship and the rights of refugee families’ in Migration Studies is now available open access! Thanks to the
@OxUniPress
and the Jisc initiative.
This is my first solo-authored paper & so I am grateful to many.
@JZulver
for productively bullying me into the two-by-two,
@RebeccaBuxton
for many many rereads,
@CVoyvodic
& Ellen for countless discussions on VERY IMPORTANT minutia, and
@GSQ_Journal
for a wonderful experience!
It was such an honor to write for this edited volume with the incomparable
@MesquitaMiguel
on transnational anti-LGBT backlash in the region. Can't wait to be able to discuss this book with peers!
The Right against Rights in Latin America is out 23 Feb with
@OxUniPress
!
📢 Mark your cals - on 23 Feb our edited volume will be published w
@OxUniPress
📕🙌🥂
"The Right Against Rights in Latin America" examines a new wave of
#antirights
mvmts in
#Latam
that are devoted to blocking, rolling back & reversing the rights of historically excl'd groups.
As I prepare for
#isa2022
(my first ever ISA in person) and reach out to some contacts to connect in Nashville, I am feeling v grateful for the incredible community of scholars to which I belong 🥺
Really thrilled to be conversing with
@sarahschulman3
this Thursday on her amazing new book “Let the Record Show”. The event is online, free, and open to all. Please join!! Oh, and Happy Pride 🌈🥰
Award-winning activist and author
@sarahschulman3
will be in conversation with
@oxqueerstudies
next week, following a screening of United in Anger: A History of ACT UP, her film with Jim Hubbard.
Thurs 17 June, 5pm | Online - registration required:
Join us today at 1:45! I will be presenting new work on the relationship between brutal forms of violence against social difference and social transformation during war.
#ISA2023
@Megan_A_Stewart
@JZulver
@CVoyvodic
War made the region of Montes de María inhospitable to LGBT people for years, but today a community thrives during a tepid peace. I felt honored to be trusted to share these stories & portraits of resilience. Though discrimination persists, I loved to be able to document JOY!
This photo is sending me. This man woke up, had a plan, & chose to dress like a gd madmax character, it’s near freezing in DC... American masculinity is in crisis. We need pathways of masculine prestige that are removed from a military industrial complex that lionizes brutality.
Scores of Trump supporters breached the Capitol building and neared the Senate floor on Wednesday afternoon as thousands cheered and clashed with police in front of the building.
Join me today for a discussion with Devon Matthews of
@RainbowRailroad
to hear about their impressive work providing refuge for LGBTIQ+ people in situations of violence, crisis, and persecution. Today, online, 5:30pm UK time, sign up link in tweet or DM me x
Need a smile? Today's tropical timeout is courtesy of our old friend, "hot lips" (Palicourea elata). This plant grows in the Colombian rainforest, including in Putumayo and Chocó, and is said to be medicinal. Some claim it can help cure impotency. Can't imagine how
I’ll be presenting my latest work today at 9am at
#ECPG2022
. The paper questions the role of brutality in civil war. Through an exploration of media coverage on anti-LGBT violence in Colombia, I argue that brutality facilitates social transformation through a process of abjection
A lovely surprise this morning to see my research on conceptualizing cruelty in civil war engaged with (& summarized in a clearer manner than the original….) by
@AthertonKD
for his
#CriticalState
column
@inkstickmedia
Excited to share a new piece in
@RoutedM
on the impact that cisheteronormative biases have on our understanding of displacement. The piece is an overview of a bigger research project on 'queer epistemology' in forced migration studies.
And finally, two scholars hover over this dissertation, and I want to recognize that I stand on their shoulders: Lee Ann Fujii and Iris Marion Young.
May their memories be a revolution. 💛
A new paper with
@bertous
is now out in the
@apsrjournal
In it we essential ask: do nativists become more tolerant of LGBTQ+ rights to distance themselves from ethnic outgroups? 1/🧵
Over the academic break, I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to return home and spend a few weeks with my mother and it is absolutely remarkable the percentage of our discussion occupied by the family cat.
Took
@prof_mirya
advice to the next level and have now institutionalized my academic coven. Please join the new network for queer studies at Oxford! Sign up here:
Happy to share my review of
#Identity
ed. by
@De_Kosnik
and
@kpfeldman
for
@allegra_lab
. Couldn't recommend the book more, especially Part III on "Disavowals", because of how it challenges assumptions on the relationship between social media and identity.
I lack the energy to analyze Dr Biden's thesis when I should be writing my own, but I want to point out that the "corrections" re: hyphens are probably not as clear as presented. The appropriateness of a hyphen depends on its position in the sentence (in relation to noun & verb).
200 typos in a 100,000 word thesis is incredible. Most works of that length have far more, including most 'great' literary works. This sad (misogynistic) obsession with attacking Dr Biden's credentials is pathetic.
This piece was so much fun to write- 1 bc writing with friends is a joy, but also 2 bc the argument wrote itself. The inclusion of queer and trans people in the global refugee regime is a momentous gain, but ensuring their protection also means ensuring equality in RSD processes.
De acuerdo con mi protocolo de investigación, quiero agradecer adicionalmente a los muchos que anónimamente participaron en Bogotá, los Montes de María, y Magdalena Medio.
Late to the this, but just saw this really nice write up by my Centre
@refugeestudies
on my new
@SSHRC_CRSH
grant project with
@suyvonne
and
@Ty_Valiquette
on the humanitarian conditions of LGBT Venezuelan refugees in Colombia and Brazil