Abstract
Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in Wrocław, Poland, the paper analyzes grassroots workings of European sexual citizenship. Against this backdrop, it attempts to problematize a concept of Europeanization as vertical and horizontal diffusion which spreads specific ideas, practices, and institutions among actual and prospective EU Member States. Whereas (neo)liberal LGBT rights, seen as a symbol of Europeanness, have definitely inspired struggles for sexual freedom in Poland, abstract notions of Europe and Europeanization do not form an important point of reference, at least at a local level. Moreover, premises of European sexual citizenship are in many ways contested by non-heteronormative persons unwilling (or unable) to use this frame for the conceptualization of their own experiences. On the other hand, because the EU and neoliberalism constitute significant antagonists of Polish right-wing nationalism, this allows for a certain resignification of interrelated phenomena criticized elsewhere as ‘homonormative’ and ‘homonationalist.’ While these phenomena undoubtedly trigger specific inclusions and exclusions, they also have the potential to contribute to critical citizenship. Consequently, instead of grasping Europeanization in a teleological way, the paper argues for taking it as an image that may fuel social change, variously conceived of.
Highlights
Europeanization and LGBT rightsEuropeanization is usually envisioned in dynamic terms, as if on the constant move
In contemporary Poland, the actual workings of ideas related to European sexual citizenship are perhaps most conspicuously revealed when community belonging is negotiated at the grassroots level
The Wrocław case could be seen as a microcosm, demonstrating how broader entanglements of Europe, the European Union (EU), modernity, neoliberalism, cultural and legal LGBT rights, right-wing nationalism, and the nation state define Europeanization in the field of sexual citizenship in Poland
Summary
Europeanization is usually envisioned in dynamic terms, as if on the constant move. It is mainly analyzed in relation to European integration and seen as ‘the “downloading” of EU policy into the national polity, and [...] the “uploading” of national preferences to EU level’ (Grabbe, 2006: 4). The related empirical material was gathered in the course of ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Wrocław between May 2016 and October 2017.5 In addition to structured-, semi-structured-, and open interviews, as well as discussions in focus groups, data were obtained during antidiscrimination workshops and training events, thanks to the participation in public events important for activism-oriented LGBT/Q environments, and through an analysis of public discourses, mostly in the form of press publications, websites, social media publications, and other information materials Whereas this type of research involves interaction with numerous people, the main group of nonheteronormative interviewees (both activists and non-activists) comprised 20 persons, who were differentiated in terms of gender and sexual identities and expressions, as well as age and religion, but not in terms of ethnicity and social status. This experience is the only noticeable one of its type in the public space of Wrocław
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