Politicizing Sex in Contemporary Africa

Although sexual minorities in Africa continue to face harsh penalties for same-sex relationships, strong anti-homophobic resistance exists across the continent. This book systematically charts the emergence and effects of politicized homophobia in Malawi and shows how it has been used as a strategy by political elites to consolidate their moral and political authority, through punishing LGBT people and dividing social movements. Here, Ashley Currier pays particular attention to the impact of politicized homophobia on different social movements, specifically HIV/AIDS, human rights, LGBT rights, and women's rights movements. Her timely account intervenes in Afro-pessimist portrayals of the African continent as a hotbed of homophobia and unravels the tensions and contradictions underlying Western perceptions of Malawi. It shows that, in reality, many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people happily call Malawi home, in spite of heightened antigay vitriol that has generated unwanted visibility for them.

'Carefully researched and making extensive use of primary sources, Currier's book makes a significant contribution to sociology by expanding the reach of the discipline to sub-Saharan African countries and provides a number of tools for thinking about how elites in postcolonial states deploy politicized homophobia to solidify their authority. Countering Afro-pessimism, the book shows that homophobia is not an inherent trait of African countries, and through detailed analysis of its rise and use, offers knowledge beneficial to combatting it.' Rachel Sullivan Robinson, American Journal of Sociology

Ashley Currier is Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Cincinnati. Her first book, Out in Africa: LGBT Organizing in Namibia and South Africa (2012), was a finalist for a 2013 Lambda Literary Book Award. Her research on gender and sexual diversity organizing in Africa has been published in Critical African Studies, Feminist Formations, Gender & Society, GLQ, Mobilization, Politique Africaine, Signs, and Women's Studies Quarterly.