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Queer Injuries: The Racial Politics of “Hate Crime” in Germany

In critical US discussions, the hate crime paradigm to gender and sexual politics is critiqued for strengthening a criminal “justice” system that disproportionately incarcerates people of color. In Germany, meanwhile, a hateful population destined for disposal already exists. This article charts the rise of the “homophobic migrant” in its genealogy with older figures (the “criminal migrant,” “mal-integrated migrant,” “honor killer,” “terrorist,” and the “ghetto”), against whom recently decriminalized queer intimacies can become a pleasant sight. Advocating a transnational lens, the author argues that we need to understand queer punitiveness in its globalizing context of neoliberalism, militarization, and professionalized and institutionalized activism.

Germany, Muslim homophobia, biopolitics, necropolitics, racism, queer of color, affect, gentrification

Citation: Social Justice Vol. 37, No. 1 (2010-11): 69-89.