Project Title 

‘Reclaiming Greekness and navigating contradictions’: queer responses to ethno-nationalist constructions of Greek national identity in public discourse.

Research Topic

Alex’s doctoral project examines how Greek transgender and gender non-conforming identities are portrayed within ethno-nationalist discourses in the Greek public sphere, including within digital spaces and media representations, and how transgender and gender non-conforming individuals perceive, define and perform their own Greekness; in other words, how they respond to and contest LGBTQIA+-exclusive representations of Greek national identity. At the same time, they also focus on the queer diaspora and homonationalist claims in public discourse, including a critique of the application of homonationalism within the Greek context. The aim of Alex’s project is to provide Greek transgender and gender non-conforming people with the platform to express their counter-narrative and demonstrate marginalised discourses of resistance, while illustrating the ways in which individuals navigate the various contradictions of their representations in public discourse. The main methodologies in their project are poststructuralist discourse analysis and semi-structured interviews.

Supervisors

Professor Lilie Chouliaraki and Professor Myria Georgiou 

Biography 

Alex (any pronouns) started their academic journey at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, Greece, where they completed a BSc (First Class Honours) in Educational and Social Policy, majoring in special education. Alex’s bachelor’s thesis focused on integrating sensory preferences into teaching basic life and social skills to children with severe to profound disabilities. Alex then continued their postgraduate studies at University College London (UCL), where they completed a MA (Distinction) in Human Rights at the UCL Department of Political Science. Their master’s thesis focused on the analysis of religious and political discourse around Greek national identity, the representation of LGBTQIA+ identities and the wider implications for sexual and queer citizenship in contemporary Greece.

Alex is currently working at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International as a Research and Campaigns Assistant, where they focus mainly on police violence, the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, LGBTQIA+ rights and a wide range of civil and political, and economic, social and cultural rights in the European context. They have been actively working with Researchers in the organisation and worked in multiple outputs by Amnesty International on Greece and Turkey. Alex’s research interests lie at the intersection of religiosity, religious authority and LGBTQIA+ identities, sexual and queer citizenship and national belonging, the construction of masculinities and national identities, internal discrimination within LGBTQIA+ communities, and sex workers’ rights. They have a particular interest and focus on the concepts of homonormativity, homonationalism and queer theory.