Lives That Resist Telling: Migrant and Refugee Lesbians

Lives That Resist Telling explores the experiences of migrant women who identify as lesbian, queer, or nonheteronormative, challenging the scholarly silence about their lives. The essays show how state migration controls and multiple institutions of power subjectify and govern migrant lesbians in contradictory ways, and how they cope, strategize, and respond.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 106 pages
Publication date: 25 September 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Lives That Resist Telling is a groundbreaking collection of essays that challenges the pervasive scholarly silence surrounding the lives of migrant women who identify as lesbian, queer, or non-heteronormative. By reworking social science methodologies and theories, the authors delve into the rich and diverse experiences of these women across different geographical contexts. The essays explore the lives of migrant Latina lesbians in Los Angeles, Latina lesbians whose transnational lives traverse the borders between the United States and Mexico, non-heteronormative migrant Muslim women in Norway and Denmark, economically privileged Chinese lesbian or "lala" women in Australia, and Iranian lesbian asylum-seekers in Turkey.

Through their compelling narratives, the authors shed light on the complex ways in which state migration controls and multiple institutions of power attempt to subjectify and govern migrant lesbians. They illustrate how these women navigate these oppressive forces, employing coping strategies, strategizing, and responding in ways that defy conventional narratives.

One of the central themes of the book is the exploration of binaries of visibility/invisibility, in/out, victim/agent, home/homeless, and belonging/unbelonging. The authors challenge these binaries and complicate them, revealing the ways in which they are perpetuated by dominant societal norms and institutions. Tellability, on the other hand, emerges as a powerful technology of power and violence, but it also functions as a mode of healing, (re)building a sense of self and connection to others, and creating conditions for livability and queer world-making.

This book is a significant contribution to the field of migration studies and gender studies, offering a fresh perspective on the experiences of marginalized women. It challenges the dominant narratives that often erase the voices and experiences of these women, highlighting their resilience, agency, and contributions to society. Lives That Resist Telling is a must-read for scholars, activists, and anyone interested in understanding the complexities of gender, sexuality, and migration.

Weight: 453g
Dimension: 246 x 174 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367695378