Description
Interviews with twenty-seven members of twenty feminist and queer groups in Serbia and Croatia reveal different conceptualizations of gender, and implications for social change. Research finds consensus among groups about the social construction of gender. However, these groups have disagreements about whether and how to deploy non-binary gender categories. While an understanding of gender was introduced in the 1970s in former Yugoslavia by the feminist movement, more recently its localization has been shaped by war and by the post-war context where organizations focused on the grave violations of human rights, including rape as a war strategy. This emphasis influenced the direction of feminist and queer movements, which are intimately connected and have strong cooperation. It turned out that solidarity against oppressions, and not a common vision of social transformation in regards to gender, is at the base of their alliance. Nevertheless, most members of feminist and queer groups express a vision of compatibility between these movements and attempt a (re)negotiation of political positioning to accommodate gender fluidity or deconstruction.
