Sexual Tensions of Post-Empire

In this essay Katherine Franke examines two contemporary cites in which state efforts to eradicate the traces of empire and to resurrect an authentic post- colonial nation have produced sexual subjects that serve as a kind of e xistential residue and reminder of a demonized colonial past and absence. Looking first at post-colonial Zimbabwe, Franke argues that President Mugabe's aggressively homophobic policies have played a key role in fortify ing his leadership as authent ically African and post-colonial. Franke then turns to current efforts by the Mubarak government in Egypt to publically prosecute men for having sex with men. The Mubarak government has used homosexual show trials, first in security courts, and then in civilian courts, as a dry run for the reorganization of the Egyptian court system's jurisdiction over dissenters and outcasts. When a people seek to put behind them an ignoble past characterized by domination, exploitation or tyranny of the many by the few, they can be dogged, if not haunted by the residue of that past. This residue can take many forms, and can threaten the coherence, stability and forward-looking nature of the new states that are brought into being during these periods of revolt and re-building. Residue can also prove to be a quite productive prop to the masters of post-colonial statecraft. In this essay, I explore two circumstances in which the aggressive efforts of a state