Bao-Thi Van Cong defends her PhD thesis

Bao-Thi Van Cong. Photo: Katrine Biune, UCPH
Bao-Thi Van Cong. Photo: Katrine Biune, UCPH

Title

'Blurr/y/ing Boundaries, Forging Coalitions: Intersectionality and Solidarity in Queer Movements'.

Time and place

28 February 2025 at 2 pm (CET).

The defence will take place in Auditorium 25.01.53, Building 25, The Faculty of Social Sciences (CSS), Gammeltoftsgade 19, 1355 Copenhagen.

The defence will also be available via Zoom.

Click here to join the defence.
Passcode: 503378.

After the defence, there will be a reception in the Ethnographic Exploratory (EE), Building 4, Room 4.1.12, The Faculty of Social Sciences (CSS).

Assessment committee

  • Associate Professor Milan Obaidi, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (chair)

  • Professor Peter Hegarty, The Open University UK, United Kingdom

  • Associate Professor Maja Kutlaca, Durham University, United Kingdom

Supervisor

  • Professor Thomas Morton, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Abstract

This thesis examines solidarity within queer movements through an intersectional lens, with a particular focus on the racialized dynamics that shape queer people’s perceptions and experiences of solidarity in Denmark and the United States. The work is built around three empirical articles, which collectively interrogate questions of what it means to fight for queer liberation, who is included in these struggles, and how solidarity can be built across intersectional differences. Employing a multitude of methods, the articles examine (1) current issues of priority within queer movements, the relevant actors involved in addressing them as well as intersectional differences on these perspectives, (2) understandings and enactments of allyship and their link to group boundaries among queer people, and (3) intersectional inclusion in queer movements and its implications for ingroup solidarity. Together, the findings underscore the need to address intersectional marginalization within queer movements through ingroup solidarity while navigating questions of (sub)group boundaries and tensions of commonality and difference.