Incommensurability and Interventions of Queer Knowledges

Abstract (English)

This papers examines the question of a queer epistemology not from the standpoint of the closet, but rather from a place of pleasure. This pleasure interrupts public health frameworks and interventions. However, this paper will be using the authors experiences with IRB and work history as an entry point for the discussion. During the IRB process for this project, the author faced questions of conflict of interest which raises additional questions around funding, in an increasingly scarce field, and interest in our interlocutors' subjectivities. The “conflict” in conflict of interest implies an epistemic compromise. However, this paper argues that these epistemic compromises always exist and enable especially insightful work into the epistemologies of the world. Moreover, these epistemic compromise accusations are often lodged at marginalized communities and researchers. As such, the question of epistemic justice is one about queer anthropology. Who are its researchers and what do they research? Using queer anthropology and the anthropology of NGOs along with questions of insider and native anthropology, this paper will move from fieldsite, to worksite, to dissertation writing as sites of epistemic compromise that are generative for building anthropological knowledge.