Törnqvist, Maria, Post Doc

By Stine Adrian on 27 Aug | 0 comments

Maria Törnqvist is a sociologist from Stockholm University. In the fall 2006 she defended her thesis Könspolitik på gränsen. Debatterna om varannan damernas och Thamprofessurerna (The Borders of Gender Politics. The Swedish Debates on Gender Quotas in the Political System and Positive Action in the Academy, Arkiv förlag).

Besides work on Swedish gender politics she has published a teaching book on feminist theory where five perspectives are introduced through narratives of popular films (Feministisk teori i rörliga bilder. Feminist theory in motion, Liber förlag: together with Katharina Tollin).

She has also written articles on diverse phenomenon such as internet dating, plastic surgery and mask-wearing in political demonstrations. Last year she was a visiting scholar at the sociology department at UC Berkeley.

GEXcel PROJECT
A Market of Emotions: The Case of Tango Tourism in Buenos Aires

Tourism in general, and tango tourism in particular, is an intriguing case for exploring the complex nets of socio-economic orders, gender and ethnicity in a global world. This is a phenomenon that allows a flourishing of myths, desires and images of ‘exotic places’ and ‘others’ for consumption by wealthy, white, Western Europeans/Americans.

Drawing from the empirical findings of a pilot-study, my contribution to the GEXcel fellowship program is to explore and develop a theoretical framework for understanding global flows of emotional consumption with the case of tango tourism as the empirical scope. One important question is how we can develop a feminist theory that takes seriously the impact of emotions and socio-sexual practices, without falling into the trap of exotic and gender stereotypical explanations.

In order to create a ‘full-bodied’ analysis of this phenomenon, the study will be using three kinds of material: a) interviews with tango tourists, i.e. people who have been visiting Buenos Aires with the specific aim of dancing and exploring Argentine tango, b) documentary analysis of fictional and non-fictional representations of tango tourism, and c) carnal ethnography (an ‘observant-participation’ with the researcher’s own body as a tool and point of departure for understanding the practices, rites and technologies of a certain social world).

PREVIOUS PUBLICATIONS

• Törnqvist, Maria (2007) ”Varannan damernas väg till riksdagen: en romantisk historia” i Tidskrift för genusvetenskap, nr 4.
• Törnqvist, Maria (2007) ”From Threat to Promise. The Changing Position of Gender Quota in the Swedish Debate on Women’s Political Representation” in Eva Magnusson, Malin Rönnblom & Harriet Silius (ed.) Gender Equality and Other Normativites: critical perspectives on gender constructions in Nordic Policies and Practicies. Gondolin Förlag.
• Törnqvist, Maria (2007) “Elitfeminism” i bang, nr 1.
• Törnqvist, Maria (2006) Könspolitik på gränsen. Debatterna om varannan damernas och Thamprofessurerna. Arkiv förlag.
• Törnqvist, Maria (2006) ”Det sa bara klick…Högutbildade storstadsbor söker partners på nätet” in Axess nr 4, maj.
• Tollin, Katharina & Maria Törnqvist (2005) Feministisk teori i rörliga bilder. Liber förlag.
• Carbin, Maria, Katharina Tollin and  Maria Törnqvist (2004) “Rättvisans gränser eller problemet med läkaren som kör taxi” in Kvinneforskning, nr 4. 
• Carbin, Maria, Katharina Tollin and Maria Törnqvist (2004) "Avslöja dom" (om den svenska slöjdebatten) in bang, nr 1.
• Tollin, Katharina and Maria Törnqvist (2003) Scener i feministisk teori. Särtryck Sociologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet.
• Tollin, Katharina and Törnqvist, Maria (2003) ”Att hålla masken. Hemliga subjekt i det politiska rummet” in Fronesis, nr 11-12.
• Tollin, Katharina and Törnqvist, Maria (2003) ”Maskerad” in Fabrik, nr 2.
• Törnqvist, Maria (2003) ”En heterosexuell historia” in bang, nr 1.
• Törnqvist, Maria (2003) ”Rädslans politik” in Arena, nr 2.
• Törnqvist, Maria (2002) “Kroppar på gränsen” (naturliggöranden av plastikopererade kroppar) in Häften för Kritiska Studier, nr 2-3-4.
• Törnqvist, Maria. (2000) Performing Politics. A Study on Community Theatre and Civil Society in Zimbabwe. Minor Field Study nr 89. Department of Government, Uppsala University.