Reclaiming Radical Resistance: Conceptualising Intersectionality in Racial(ised) Queer Activisms in Europe

Tensions between more radical intersectional queer activist groups and the broader mainstream queer movements in Europe are increasingly evident. Racism, tokenism and co-optation are some of the main criticisms raised by intersectional queer activists, who oppose the performative use of intersectionality and reclaim radical queer resistance. In more defiant queer activist configurations, intersectionality sheds its performative guise and returns to its militant roots, serving as a transformative ‘radical tool’ to oppose and resist entrenched systems of power within mainstream queer movements. Albeit academic research on intersectional queer activisms in Europe is growing, the orientation of queer movements towards intersectionality and how intersectionality affects the emergence and development of queer mobilizations require further understanding and conceptualization. For instance, how intersecting systems of oppression and marginalisation, such as racism, classism, and ableism, shape queer activist organising in Europe remains an open question. As some scholars put it, “[w]hat is often lacking is a sense of ‘intersectionally linked fate’” (Ayoub 2016: 222), claiming for the continued development and application of intersectional approaches in the study of queer politics. This article advances this debate by offering theoretical and conceptual insights into how intersectionality molds contemporary queer activisms in Europe. In doing so, it builds on and contributes to both the literature on intersectional activism and that on queer of color critique. Namely, it uses the former to advance reflections on intersectionality as a radical tool for resistance within mainstream queer movements, and the latter to apply intersectionality to the study of queer politics, unpacking race, (anti-)racism and racialisation.