Paper Short Abstract:

This contribution explores the epistemological limits and responsibilities of solidarity-driven ethnography in queer activism research. Advocating for an engaged approach, it connects knowledge production with shared future visions and highlights the transformative potential of queer practices of solidarity. By employing an activist-collaborative methodology, the research investigates how these practices challenge societal norms and power dynamics in diverse settings, such as Prides and queer collectives. It underscores the importance of trust-building and active participation in sensitive research contexts. The study reimagines engaged anthropology by illustrating how queer activist research can reshape research relationships and promote democratic futures. It calls for a reevaluation of participation, reflexivity, and power asymmetries in ethnography, seeking to align anthropological knowledge with the concerns of the researched and fostering a more equitable dialogue between science and society.

Paper Abstract:

This contribution analyses the epistemological boundaries and responsibilities within solidarity-driven ethnography in queer activism research. Drawing from my dissertation, which investigates how queer communities envision caring and solidaristic coexistence (Hark 2021), it explores the potentials and limitations of these elements to challenge societal norms and power structures through ethnographic research. It argues for an engaged approach (Zenker & Vonderau 2023) that leverages the situatedness of knowledge production following a "shared problematisation", which is in turn linked to shared ideas of future and amounts to a "similar process of worlding" (Niewöhner 2019: 32).

Building on an activist framework, it examines how queer practices of solidarity appear in settings like Prides and other movements, queer collectives, and relationships, highlighting their transformative potential of queer utopias as counter-worlds (Muñoz 2009). In such sensitive contexts trust is fundamental, necessitating engaged participation and vulnerability. This paper demonstrates how queer activist research can reshape research relationships (cf. Seeck 2021; Tillmann-Healy 2003) and promote responsible, democratic futures (Puig de la Bellacasa 2017). It argues that queering normativity through care and solidarity in the research process allows ethnography to engage with transformative societal and epistemological paradigms.

The contribution urges a reevaluation of participation and power asymmetries in ethnography, aiming to align anthropological knowledge with the priorities of the researched, fostering equitable dialogue between science and society. This approach seeks to contribute to forming a "different political body" and envisioning a future that supports a good life for all (Sutter et al. 2021: 17f.).