Buenos Aires Beyond (Homo)Sexualized Urban Entrepreneurialism: The Geographies of Queered Tango

Abstract

This paper discusses (homo)sexualization as entrepreneurial strategy in Buenos Aires. City-marketing capitalizes on Buenos Aires' reputed passion and tolerance. Yet homonormative framings collide with politicized cultures of sexual dissidence. Cultural entrepreneurialism promotes profit-making sexual diversity, but social actors also construct their queerness outside, even in opposition to, market-driven urbanism. This paper argues that queered tango practices differ from those of mainstream LGBT circuits and coalesce with those who contest the genre's touristification, designed to trigger selective redevelopment. The paper first examines the explanatory purchase of cultural entrepreneurialism and homonormativity outside Euro-America. Empirical sections then show that the redefinition/re-territorialization of gayness aggravates sociospatial fragmentation, while governmental appropriations of tango legitimize exclusionary world-class-city politics. Nevertheless, the paper's first-person ethnography of queer tango uncovers territories of radical difference and trans-local solidarity networks. The paper ends by suggesting the need for further research into the conflictive intersections between urban globalization and globalizing queerness.

Intersectionality and planning at the margins: LGBTQ youth of color in New York

“…We 4 used the lessons and observations from the tour to examine the life experiences of LGBTQ YOC in NYC, in particular the West Village, and their access to the right to the city. Yet, more understanding is needed about the interplay of gender/sexuality (Jackson 2006) and place/ space (Agnew 2011) with other minoritized identity markers, such as ethnicity, race, age, and class (Grossman et al 2009;Kanai 2015). These engagements informed our analysis on the pedagogical significance and potential of the tour as an advocacy, organizing, and educational instrument for the needs of LGBTQ YOC in NYC.…”

Inclusion in the homonormative world city: The case of gay migrants living with HIV in Barcelona

“…The increasing access for LGBT people to national state institutions, such as marriage and the army, across Western countries and beyond has been conceptualized by queer critics as "homonormativity" or "the sexual politics of neoliberalism", a concept originally introduced by Duggan (2002) in relation to US politics. The concept registered a rapid uptake, with scholars discussing its emergence in very different contexts like Buenos Aires (Kanai, 2015), San Francisco (Mattson, 2015) and Singapore (Phillips, 2014). When reviewing this widespread debate, two main perspectives, which are closely 5.…”

“…On one side, those analysing homonormativity as a 'top-down' political strategy from the institutions of neoliberal governance to create new sources of profitability (e.g. Agathangelou, Bassichis and Spira, 2008;Bell and Binnie, 2004;Kanai, 2015;Rushbrook, 2002), and on the other, those emphasizing its 'lived' dimension in everyday practices, represented by the increasing importance attached to consumerism, the privatization and domestication of sexual life and the exaltation of coupledom (e.g. Collins, 2009;Fung, 2013;Lippert, 2010;Searle, 2014).…”

‘What is up with my sisters? Where are you?’ The origins and consequences of lesbian-friendly place reputations for LBQ migrants

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