Imperialism, as famously argued by Edward Said, ‘is not only about soldiers and cannons but also about ideas, about forms, about images and imaginings’.

What happens to these ideas, images, and imaginings in (post)imperial societies? How do historical narratives that justified and celebrated empire sound today and what role do they play in present-day politics, identities, aspirations, and inequalities? How does a (post)colonial state narrate its colonial history and are there people who remain enchanted by the tales of imperial greatness?

These questions are the driving forces behind Dr Marina Yusupova's research project on masculinity and empire. Drawing on longitudinal empirical research on post-Soviet Russian masculinities and the queer sociological approach that emphasises global structures and transnational processes in the analysis of everyday social life, Dr Yusupova reflects on how thinking about masculinities with empire can transform the current practices of theorising in critical men and masculinities studies and scholarship about Russia.

The lecture is taking place in room K3.11, in the Strand building (WC2R 2LS)

SPEAKER

Dr Marina Yusupova is a Lecturer in Sociology at Edinburgh Napier University. She is specialising in feminist thought, decolonial theory, and epistemologies of knowledge production in social sciences. Her current research agenda is situated within two fields: sociological research on global masculinities and interdisciplinary scholarship exploring the durability of empire and imperial violence in contemporary world.