Aneta Piekut, Gill Valentine, Ulrike M. Vieten.
2014.
Seeking ‘the New Normal’? Troubled spaces of encountering visible differences in Warsaw
Polish Sociological Review 4(188) | pages: 541-558
Abstract
In times of globalisation and super-mobility, ideas of normality are in turmoil. In differentsocieties in, across and beyond Europe, we face the challenge of undoing specific notions of normality andcreating more inclusive societies with an open culture of learning to live with differences. The scope of the paper is to introduce some findings on encounters with difference and negotiations of social valuesin relation to a growing visibility of difference after 1989 in Poland, on the background of a critique of normality/normalisation andnormalcy. On the basis of interviews conducted in Warsaw,we investigate how normality/normalisation discourses of visible homosexuality and physical disability are incorporated intoindividual self-reflections and justifications of prejudices (homophobia and disabilism). More specifically we argue that there are moments of ‘cultural transgressions’ present in everyday practices towards ‘visible’sexual and (dis)ability difference.
Keywords
difference, visibility, normalisation, sexuality, disability, Warsaw, Poland
