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Abstract

In this article I critically examine the use of the concept “queer” in the work of Judith Butler. I investigate what kind of conceptual politics Butler performs through her use of “queer”. I suggest that “queer” was a term that particularly during the 1990s was used by Butler to repoliticise issues of identity, race, class and their relationship to sexuality. My hypothesis is that for Butler the concept “queer” is an open signifier that functions as a critical term in relation to various issues that Butler analyses.

Keywords: queer, concept, politics, theory, feminism