Introduction: LGBTQ+ visibilities in the Caucasus and Central Asia

Abstract

ABSTRACT The idea for this collection of papers emerged from a desire to showcase queer scholarship in and on the region, following a panel discussion about the visibility of queer communities in the post-Soviet space at the ASEEES virtual convention in December 2021. The panellists’ discussions highlighted the ongoing challenges of queer knowledge production and the tendency for scholarship produced by and on queer people in the region to be regarded as either ‘anomalous’ and/or ‘exotic’ and therefore treated as marginal. The contributions here challenge the latter argument by demonstrating that there are lessons to be learned from the experiences of queer people in the Caucasus and Central Asia. In this introduction, the guest editors explore the dominant themes that emerged from the articles in this issue. They also reflect on the politics of representation, reflexivity and research, and how they have sought to engage with them in editing this issue.