Dr Koen Slootmaeckers: The Promotion of and Resistance to LGBT Equality

Dr Koen Slootmaeckers will present on The Promotion of and Resistance to LGBT Equality: Understanding the Sexual Politics of Serbia’s EU Accession Process at this seminar organised by the UCL SSEES South-East European Studies Seminar Series

In recent years, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans* (LGBT) rights have become increasingly salient within the EU enlargement process as a so-called litmus test for Europeanness, yet the promotion of such norms has provided a fulcrum for political contestation. Based on this observation, this talks asks how do the EU and Serbia negotiate LGBT-related normative tensions which have been created as part of the overarching political integration process? By taking into account the international symbolism of LGBT norms, it is suggested to move away from a classical approach to Europeanisation in which the impact of the EU on a third country is examined, towards a more dynamic conceptualisation of the EU enlargement process in which norms are inherently contested, and a resolution to normative struggles are required to advance political integration. Drawing on rich empirical material and the analysis of the promotion of and resistance to LGBT-inclusive anti-discrimination legislation and the organisation of LGBT Pride Parades in Belgrade in the context of Serbia’s EU integration process between 2000 and 2015,  the concept of ‘Tactical Europeanisation’ is introduced to highlight that the EU accession process is better thought of as a process of negotiated transformation in which EU policies and norms are (re)defined, negotiated and transformed with both sides making compromised to further the political integration.

Bio: Koen Slootmaeckers is a lecturer in International Politics at the Department of International Politics at City, University of London. He has a background in sociology and finished his PhD in politics and international relations at Queen Mary University of London. His research deals with the EU enlargement process and sexual politics in candidate countries. More specifically, he has studied the EU accession of Serbia and how this process affects LGBT politics and activism. Koen is the co-chair elect of the Council of European Studies Gender and Sexuality Research Network and has been has been widely published, including a (co-)edited volume ‘EU Enlargement and Gay Politics’ (Palgrave 2016; with Heleen Touquet and Peter Vermeersch). 

All welcome to attend, no registration required