Queer Studies

The main goal for queer studies has been to analytically unravel the tenets of heteronormativity and make both conceptual and liveable space for non-normative sexualities and genders. This effort has been grounded in deconstructing the Western binary structures of gender and sexuality. Critical voices within queer studies have also been questioning the US-centrism and whiteness of the scholarship. It has been debated how well the term “queer” travels globally, beyond the Anglo-dominated parts of the world. When thinking about queer in the Arctic, one is faced with critical questions: How is queer intelligible as a term in different Arctic societies? How do indigenous ways of identifying beyond the sexual and gender binaries contribute to queer studies? Or, if we talk about queering the Arctic, what does that mean? How do generational and geographical differences affect understanding what is queer in the Arctic? Can we argue that having been defined as one of its “others” by the Western world, the Arctic has always been queer in multiple ways? Should queer studies become decolonized? This chapter provides queer insights into contemporary Arctic cultures. This is done in discussion with indigenous and queer scholars who have analysed non-normative and non-binary genders and sexualities.