SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This chapter presents a comparative critique of the two hegemonic discourses which challenge the social integrity and agency of individuals and communities in Pakistan and Indonesia who are outside the dominant sexual/gender matrices and politics. The first identified discourse is that of Muslim theopolitical reductionism, which - by regulating sexuality and gender - aims at achieving or retaining political power. The second stream is that of neoliberal homonormative identity politics, seeking to monopolise sexual/gender plurality wherever possible, thus asserting its purported global relevance and a will to represent all those who diverge from the perceived heterosexual path. It is argued that the origins and ideological apparatus of these discourses supersede national particularities and can, indeed, be analysed as supranational phenomena, present across the porous nation-state, cultural and religious divide.