A discussion that explores the connections between necropolitical intimacy, spectacularized violence and “bare life” in the circulation of affective belonging will take place at York University on Feb. 5 from noon to 2 p.m.
The Centre for Feminist Research (CFR), Sexuality Studies, and the School of Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies present “Trans Necrointimacies: Race and the Chalky Affects of Memorialization,” a talk by CFR Visiting Scholar in Sexuality Studies Nael Bhanji.
The talk will be introduced by Sexuality Studies co-ordinator Bobby Noble.
Bhanji will examine what sorts of affective worldings emerge from the spectacularization and consumption of “ordinary” racialized death. He will ask: How can we read projects of memorialization as intimately entwined with the mobilization of national subjects within broader mechanisms of hypervigilance and surveillance against people of colour? What connections can we make between practices of trans memorialization, state securitization and counterterrorism?
Tracing the connections between necropolitical intimacy, spectacularized violence and “bare life” in the circulation of affective belonging, Bhanji’s talk will explore the centrality of “necrointimacies” in structuring whiteness as emblematic of contemporary life.
Bhanji is the 2018-19 visiting scholar in sexuality studies at the Centre for Feminist Research at York University and a lecturer at Carleton University. Drawing upon critical race theory, trans studies, psychoanalysis and affect theory, his research explores articulations of necropolitics, racialization, surveillance and counterterrorism within an increasingly globalized trans movement.
Bhanji’s work appears in Transgender Migrations: The Bodies, Borders, and Politics of Transition, The Transgender Studies Reader 2, Trans Studies Quarterly 4.1, Canadian Ethnic Studies and The Equity Myth: Racialization and Indigeneity at Canadian Universities. He is presently working on his monograph, entitled “Trans Necrointimacies: Race and the Chalky Affects of Trans Memorialization.”
The event takes place in 280A York Lanes, an accessible space that is wheelchair-accessible and has a gender-neutral bathroom nearby. Light refreshments will be provided, and everyone is welcome. RSVP with dietary needs to juliapyr@yorku.ca.