Sexual Science, Self-determination and Transnationalism: Global Scripts of the Early Homosexual Movements in Germany (1865-1969)

• Applicant: Dr. Mehmet Sinan Birdal, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Political Science
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 524420960

Levels of economic development, liberal democracy and domestic legitimacy of international norms are singled out as predictors of a state’s support for sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) rights. The empirical scope of the literature, however, is limited to SOGI norms diffusion after the 1969 Stonewall riots and neglects the first three waves of SOGI rights advocacy since the second half of the 19th century. Extending the historical scope of analysis, this project raises the following questions: How and why is sexuality redefined by reform movements at critical moments of state formation and international order? What is the impact of transnationalism and sexual science on the invention and diffusion of sexual identities and justice claims? What impact do changes in international relations have on sexual politics? This project applies the historical case study method to combine contending hypotheses on sexual politics in International Relations (IR) and political science, and to generate a model of invention and evolution of SOGI norms. As the literature suggests, norm polarization over SOGI rights remains a contentious issue dividing liberal and illiberal forces of the world order. The rise of a new middle class generated by globalization has not necessarily led to a diffusion of post-material values including SOGI rights, but rather to a geopolitical division over sexuality in domestic and international politics. This project traces the birth and the evolution of SOGI norms within a larger historical sequence to factor in extended time-lags, feedback and path-dependency mechanisms usually left out by norm diffusion models based on modernization theory. Germany presents a unique case to study the impact of politics on the birth of the first homosexual movement in late 19th century, which has usually been treated as an anomaly by modernization theory. This project employs process-tracing to model the interactions between the international system and sexual politics through four episodes: German unification, the Wilhemine Empire, the Weimar Republic, and the Adenauer regime. Germany presents a puzzle for studying sexual politics: In the 19th century it was the birthplace of the first homosexual movement, while under NSDAP rule it persecuted homosexuals on an unprecedented level. Despite its unique history Germany remains an understudied case in IR literature on sexual politics. By focusing on the invention of SOGI rights prior to 1969, this project contends that sexual reformers translated the discourse of minority rights and the right to self-determination into sexual politics. It emphasizes the role of transnationalism, knowledge exchange and sexual science in the initial articulation of SOGI rights in the 19th century and its evolution until 1969.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants