Male Homosexuality in Namibia

reflections from the history of sexuality in the (pre-)colonial era

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21530/ci.v19n2.2024.1427

Keywords:

Homosexuality in Namibia, Criminalization of homosexuality, Sodomy Law, Race and Heterosexuality, Queer Theory of International Relations

Abstract

This article analyzed male homosexual relationships in pre-colonial Namibia, investigating how homosexuality was experienced during the pre-intrusion period and its historical evolution, including the debate on the current “Sodomy Law.” It is a qualitative study based on bibliographic and critical documental analysis, employing queer international relations methodology to explore homosexuality as a historical process. The study concludes
that the concepts of gender and sexuality among the pre-colonial peoples of the region differed significantly from contemporary Western understandings. Notably, the accounts of the Ovambo regarding omashengi challenge heteronormativity while reflecting social hierarchies of the pre-colonial period.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Thaís Vieira, Universidade Federal de Goiás

Pós-doutoranda no Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciência Política e Relações Internacionais da Universidade Federal de Goiás. Possui doutorado em Ciência Política pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul e mestrado em Relações Internacionais pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais (PUCMinas).

Bárbara Lopes Campos , Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais

Professora de Relações Internacionais da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais, Campus Poços de Caldas (PUC Minas/PPC). Possui Doutorado em Ciência Política pela Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (DCP/UFMG). Mestre em Relações Internacionais pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais (PPGRI/PUC Minas).

Downloads

Published

2025-02-14

How to Cite

Sanches Rezende, L., Vieira, T., & Lopes Campos , B. (2025). Male Homosexuality in Namibia: reflections from the history of sexuality in the (pre-)colonial era. Carta Internacional, 19(2), e1427. https://doi.org/10.21530/ci.v19n2.2024.1427

Issue

Vol. 19 No. 2 (2024): Carta Internacional - Publicação Contínua

Section

Artigos

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Leticia Sanches Rezende, Thaís Vieira, Bárbara Lopes Campos

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  • Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book, for example), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.