Black Bodies, Masculinities and Sexual Politics Symposium
Schedule
Fri May 15 2026 at 12:00 pm to 06:00 pm
UTC+01:00Location
Monica Partridge Building | Nottingham, EN
About this Event
While the past three decades have seen a growing interest in the study and exploration of hegemonic masculinity and its legacies, much remains to be said about construction and maintenance of marginalised masculinities. The enduring legacies and sense-making of colonial domination continue to shape the narratives around Black masculinity and Black male bodies. The positioning of these bodies as hypersexual and hypermasculine extends such colonial racial ideologies into post-colonial times, limiting cultural and political conceptions of Black masculinity as something to be either feared or fetishised – or both.
This symposium dives deeper into the sexual politics of Black men and their bodies, both historically and contemporarily, to revisit and interrogate these narratives and legacies. We ask: How do Black men encounter these enduring legacies in everyday life? What is the impact of fetishisation and fear on their sexual agency? In what environments and spaces do Black men chose to resist their own fetishisation? When do they become complicit in it?
Join us in centring Black masculinity and Black men's bodies as we explore the sexual politics that shape the contemporary and historical lives of Black men. This interdisciplinary symposium draws from across the social sciences and humanities to explore and interrogate what Black masculinity is and can be beyond these post-colonial imaginaries.
The symposium will be followed by a photography exhibition on the subject of Black sexual politics which exposes and complicates the visual codes of Black masculinity and Black Sexual Politics.
Organizing Team
Dr. Shardia Briscoe-Palmer (PI)
Tiago Machado Costa
For questions and further information, please email [email protected].
This event is funded by BA Grant SRG2425/250612. We also thank ; the , and the Specialist Groups with the Political Studies Association; and the University of Nottingham for their support.
Where is it happening?
Monica Partridge Building, University Park, Nottingham, United KingdomEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 0.00
