Violent Intimacies: The Trans Everyday and the Making of an Urban World

Join us for an evening with Aslı Zengin, celebrated author of the recently published and award-winning book, Violent Intimacies: The Trans Everyday and the Making of an Urban World.

Zengin’s groundbreaking research delves into the lives of trans, queer, and gender-transgressive communities, exploring the intersections of ethnography, scientific and legal frameworks of sex and gender, critical studies of violence and sovereignty, and the politics of death, funerals, and afterlives. Her work also examines the transnational dimensions of LGBTQ and feminist movements in the modern Middle East. This evening, we celebrate the launch of Violent Intimacies with a thought-provoking panel discussion on the entanglement of trans lives, extra-legal state violence, and resistance in Turkey. Guided by Zengin’s deeply ethical research and poetic prose, the conversation will explore how these politics are lived and felt, highlighting the collective experiences and shared histories that shape contemporary struggles for justice and liberation. Through this dialogue, we aim to deepen our understanding of the interplay between intimate and political dimensions of gendered/sexed experiences in the Middle East. The panel will not only illuminate the resilience and agency of marginalized communities but also inspire new ways of thinking about gender, activism, and social change in the face of enduring and evolving forms of violence and oppression.

Speaker: Aslı Zengin

Chair: Emrah Karakuş