Cecilia Strand
Biographic Data
| ID | 179612 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Cecilia Strand |
| GIVEN NAMES | Cecilia |
| FAMILY NAME | Strand |
| SIGNATURE | STRAND C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Uppsala University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1194-8983 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 25 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
We are queer and the struggle is here! Visibility at the intersection of LGBT+ rights, post-coloniality, and development cooperation in Uganda
This article unpacks different meanings of visibility and adds to a more complex and nuanced understanding of visibility and its role in LGBT + activism in Uganda, a widely discussed case of political homophobia. Public visibility has a central, although contested, role here. The study aims to explore how visibility is understood and navigated by local LGBT + activists, unaffiliated people with same-sex desires, as well as international developme…
Understanding the current backlash against LGBTIQ+ rights through the lens of heteroactivism: A case study of the International Organization for the Family’s transnational norm diffusion on Twitter
A new generation of transnational anti-gender actors are framing themselves as human rights champions and protectors of the rights of the “natural family”. To better understand these actors’ norm diffusion, including their re-styling of anti-gender narratives in contemporary iterations of heteroactivism and its potential threat to LGBTIQ+ rights, in this article we analyse the social media tactics of a key transnational anti-gender actor: the Int…
Who relates to whom and according to which rationale? Visibility and advocacy in the Ugandan LGBT+ Twittersphere
An increase in international funding for LGBT+ rights advocacy in Uganda has resulted in not only a mushrooming of organizations but also intra-community competition for visibility, attention, and limited resources. Against this backdrop, we set out to study how organizations relate to each other in the Ugandan LGBT+ Twittersphere. Following an analytical framework around rationalities of mediated participation, we study with whom Ugandan LGBT+ o…
Development cooperation and the stratification of lesbian, gay, bi- and transsexual activism: International donors, elite activists and community members during Uganda Pride 2022
Uganda’s infamous state-sanctioned homo-hostility has resulted in intense international attention, development cooperation and Western funding to local lesbian, gay, bi- and transsexual (LGBT+) organisations. However, Western funders and allies in this context are becoming increasingly questioned. Researchers have highlighted the complexities, opportunities and constraints of an increasingly transnational LGBT+ movement, but how is this manifeste…
Governing queer activism: Power and visibility in state funding of international LGBTI organizations
This article examines how international lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) activism is governed through state funding. Through archival material documenting the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency’s (SIDA’s) funding of two international LGBTI organizations – the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association and the Swedish Federation of LGBTQI Rights – complemented with interviews, we …
The Promise of Double Living. Understanding Young People with Same-Sex Desires in Contemporary Kampala
Ugandan urban same-sex desiring individuals frequently encounter and navigate competing understandings of sexuality and sexual identity. Western essentialist understanding of sexual identity introduced by international development partners and transnational LGBT+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi- and Transsexual) activism, as well as media, offer an alternative to Ugandan non-essentialist and fluid subject positions. This article seeks to understand how young i…
Is There a Template for Human Rights Activism? – A Study of Ugandan Lgbt+ Organizations’ Digital Spaces
Albeit criminalization against same-sex desires is a remnant of the British colonialization, the 2009 Anti-homosexuality Bill, catapulted Ugandan state-sponsored homophobia into the international spotlight. The ensuing battle over the Bill between on one hand, local and international human rights defenders including Northern development partners and transnational conservative and religious norm entrepreneurs in partnership with local religious an…
Challenging the legacy of the past and present intimate colonialization – a study of Ugandan LGBT+ activism in times of shrinking communicative space
Through a mixed-methods approach consisting of a directed content analysis of five established LGBT+ organizations’ use of Twitter and Facebook during a month in 2022, and semi-structured qualitative interviews with social media content producers, the study attempts to understand the role of self-controlled social media spaces in challenging the Uganda society’s logics of oppression. The results indicate that self-controlled spaces are not used f…
Towards a Situated Understanding of Vulnerability - An Analysis of Ugandan LGBT+ Exposure to Hate Crimes in Digital Spaces
This study maps Uganda LGBT+ experiences of online hate crime and analyzes how preexisting vulnerability morph in digital spaces. Based on field notes, workshop material, and interviews with 13 LGBT+ individuals, the study finds that digital presences in contexts where users are vulnerable due to state-sanctioned discrimination and social exclusion, digital arenas exacerbate users' vulnerability to hate crimes through their digital footprints. Th…
Foreign Norm Entrepreneurs’ Misinformation and Disinformation Narratives on LGBT+ Rights in Europe
With ample evidence that foreign state actors and non-state norm entrepreneurs are engaged in misinformation and disinformation campaigns challenging the European Union’s human rights framework on LGBT+, this study analyses the narratives that these actors disseminate. Based on two methods – a standard literature review of academic and “grey” literature, as well as complementary analysis of entries in the EUvsDisinfo database – the study identifi…
“Fake News” on Sexual Minorities is “Old News”: A Study of Digital Platforms as Spaces for Challenging Inaccurate Reporting on Ugandan Sexual Minorities
For sexual minorities in Africa, fake news is nothing new. However, with the arrival of self-controlled digital platforms, sexual minorities are presented with new ways to counter coverage that misrepresents the community. Inspired by affordance theory and agenda-setting theory, this study explores whether self-controlled digital platforms are used to challenge false media reports on sexual minorities in Uganda, and if so, to what extent. Through…
Navigating precarious visibility: Ugandan sexual minorities on Twitter
Although invisibility has historically provided a degree of protection, Lesbian, Gay, Bi-, Trans-, Queer and Intersexuals need to materialize publicly as a group to successfully advocate for their rights. Decades of systematic exclusion of the community from traditional discourse-producing sites, such as media and physical spaces, could potentially render self-controlled digital spaces an attractive alternative for human rights advocacy and self-…
The rise and fall of a contentious social policy option – narratives around the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill in the domestic press
In 2009, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was introduced to the Ugandan parliament for consideration. This article analyses how the domestic press, most notably the privately owned, substantially changed the narratives around the Bill during the first eight months after it had been introduced to the general public. The study argues that although a traditional content analysis reveals changes in media’s attention, media narratives, it does not tell us …
Homophobia as a Barrier to Comprehensive Media Coverage of the Ugandan Anti-Homosexual Bill
The Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill of October 2009 caused an international outcry and sparked intense debate in the local media. This article explores to what degree a discriminatory social environment manifests itself in the Ugandan print media and discusses the potential implications for media's coverage of contentious policy options such as the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. A content analysis of 115 items from two daily newspapers (the government-…
State-sanctioned discrimination and media discourses on homosexuality in Namibia
The article critically discusses the events arising from the finalization of the Namibian National HIV/AIDS Policy of 2007. A series of consultative meetings throughout Namibia produced a progressive draft policy that recognized individuals engaged in same-sex sexual relationships and emphasized the distinct vulnerabilities of the group. However, despite solid epidemiological support and stakeholders' endorsement of inclusion, the key section dea…
Kill Bill! Ugandan human rights organizations' attempts to influence the media's coverage of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill
The Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill of October 2009 caused an international outcry and sparked intense debate in the local and international media. Particularly contentious was its proposal to impose the death penalty for acts of 'aggravated homosexuality'. Through a quantitative content analysis of 176 items from two main daily newspapers, the government-owned New Vision and the privately-owned Daily Monitor, over the period October 2009-June 20…
Factors associated with high media coverage of the HIV epidemic in Lesotho
Regional studies show that Lesotho outperforms other countries in southern Africa in terms of awarding coverage to HIV and AIDS. Through qualitative interviews, this study examines the motivations, experiences, and perceived challenges among media workers, which could explain the high coverage. While a high level of personal commitment seems to be the outcome of interrelated factors-such as media workers' personal experience of the country's high…
The Promise of Double Living. Understanding Young People with Same-Sex Desires in Contemporary Kampala
Ugandan urban same-sex desiring individuals frequently encounter and navigate competing understandings of sexuality and sexual identity. Western essentialist understanding of sexual identity introduced by international development partners and transnational LGBT+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi- and Transsexual) activism, as well as media, offer an alternative to Ugandan non-essentialist and fluid subject positions. This article seeks to understand how young i…
Towards a Situated Understanding of Vulnerability - An Analysis of Ugandan LGBT+ Exposure to Hate Crimes in Digital Spaces
This study maps Uganda LGBT+ experiences of online hate crime and analyzes how preexisting vulnerability morph in digital spaces. Based on field notes, workshop material, and interviews with 13 LGBT+ individuals, the study finds that digital presences in contexts where users are vulnerable due to state-sanctioned discrimination and social exclusion, digital arenas exacerbate users' vulnerability to hate crimes through their digital footprints. Th…
Homophobia as a Barrier to Comprehensive Media Coverage of the Ugandan Anti-Homosexual Bill
The Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill of October 2009 caused an international outcry and sparked intense debate in the local media. This article explores to what degree a discriminatory social environment manifests itself in the Ugandan print media and discusses the potential implications for media's coverage of contentious policy options such as the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. A content analysis of 115 items from two daily newspapers (the government-…
Development cooperation and the stratification of lesbian, gay, bi- and transsexual activism: International donors, elite activists and community members during Uganda Pride 2022
Uganda’s infamous state-sanctioned homo-hostility has resulted in intense international attention, development cooperation and Western funding to local lesbian, gay, bi- and transsexual (LGBT+) organisations. However, Western funders and allies in this context are becoming increasingly questioned. Researchers have highlighted the complexities, opportunities and constraints of an increasingly transnational LGBT+ movement, but how is this manifeste…
Governing queer activism: Power and visibility in state funding of international LGBTI organizations
This article examines how international lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) activism is governed through state funding. Through archival material documenting the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency’s (SIDA’s) funding of two international LGBTI organizations – the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association and the Swedish Federation of LGBTQI Rights – complemented with interviews, we …
Foreign Norm Entrepreneurs’ Misinformation and Disinformation Narratives on LGBT+ Rights in Europe
With ample evidence that foreign state actors and non-state norm entrepreneurs are engaged in misinformation and disinformation campaigns challenging the European Union’s human rights framework on LGBT+, this study analyses the narratives that these actors disseminate. Based on two methods – a standard literature review of academic and “grey” literature, as well as complementary analysis of entries in the EUvsDisinfo database – the study identifi…
Factors associated with high media coverage of the HIV epidemic in Lesotho
Regional studies show that Lesotho outperforms other countries in southern Africa in terms of awarding coverage to HIV and AIDS. Through qualitative interviews, this study examines the motivations, experiences, and perceived challenges among media workers, which could explain the high coverage. While a high level of personal commitment seems to be the outcome of interrelated factors-such as media workers' personal experience of the country's high…
State-sanctioned discrimination and media discourses on homosexuality in Namibia
The article critically discusses the events arising from the finalization of the Namibian National HIV/AIDS Policy of 2007. A series of consultative meetings throughout Namibia produced a progressive draft policy that recognized individuals engaged in same-sex sexual relationships and emphasized the distinct vulnerabilities of the group. However, despite solid epidemiological support and stakeholders' endorsement of inclusion, the key section dea…
Kill Bill! Ugandan human rights organizations' attempts to influence the media's coverage of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill
The Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill of October 2009 caused an international outcry and sparked intense debate in the local and international media. Particularly contentious was its proposal to impose the death penalty for acts of 'aggravated homosexuality'. Through a quantitative content analysis of 176 items from two main daily newspapers, the government-owned New Vision and the privately-owned Daily Monitor, over the period October 2009-June 20…
Homophobia as a Barrier to Comprehensive Media Coverage of the Ugandan Anti-Homosexual Bill
The Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill of October 2009 caused an international outcry and sparked intense debate in the local media. This article explores to what degree a discriminatory social environment manifests itself in the Ugandan print media and discusses the potential implications for media's coverage of contentious policy options such as the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. A content analysis of 115 items from two daily newspapers (the government-…
The rise and fall of a contentious social policy option – narratives around the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill in the domestic press
In 2009, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was introduced to the Ugandan parliament for consideration. This article analyses how the domestic press, most notably the privately owned, substantially changed the narratives around the Bill during the first eight months after it had been introduced to the general public. The study argues that although a traditional content analysis reveals changes in media’s attention, media narratives, it does not tell us …
“Fake News” on Sexual Minorities is “Old News”: A Study of Digital Platforms as Spaces for Challenging Inaccurate Reporting on Ugandan Sexual Minorities
For sexual minorities in Africa, fake news is nothing new. However, with the arrival of self-controlled digital platforms, sexual minorities are presented with new ways to counter coverage that misrepresents the community. Inspired by affordance theory and agenda-setting theory, this study explores whether self-controlled digital platforms are used to challenge false media reports on sexual minorities in Uganda, and if so, to what extent. Through…
Navigating precarious visibility: Ugandan sexual minorities on Twitter
Although invisibility has historically provided a degree of protection, Lesbian, Gay, Bi-, Trans-, Queer and Intersexuals need to materialize publicly as a group to successfully advocate for their rights. Decades of systematic exclusion of the community from traditional discourse-producing sites, such as media and physical spaces, could potentially render self-controlled digital spaces an attractive alternative for human rights advocacy and self-…
Foreign Norm Entrepreneurs’ Misinformation and Disinformation Narratives on LGBT+ Rights in Europe
With ample evidence that foreign state actors and non-state norm entrepreneurs are engaged in misinformation and disinformation campaigns challenging the European Union’s human rights framework on LGBT+, this study analyses the narratives that these actors disseminate. Based on two methods – a standard literature review of academic and “grey” literature, as well as complementary analysis of entries in the EUvsDisinfo database – the study identifi…
Is There a Template for Human Rights Activism? – A Study of Ugandan Lgbt+ Organizations’ Digital Spaces
Albeit criminalization against same-sex desires is a remnant of the British colonialization, the 2009 Anti-homosexuality Bill, catapulted Ugandan state-sponsored homophobia into the international spotlight. The ensuing battle over the Bill between on one hand, local and international human rights defenders including Northern development partners and transnational conservative and religious norm entrepreneurs in partnership with local religious an…
Challenging the legacy of the past and present intimate colonialization – a study of Ugandan LGBT+ activism in times of shrinking communicative space
Through a mixed-methods approach consisting of a directed content analysis of five established LGBT+ organizations’ use of Twitter and Facebook during a month in 2022, and semi-structured qualitative interviews with social media content producers, the study attempts to understand the role of self-controlled social media spaces in challenging the Uganda society’s logics of oppression. The results indicate that self-controlled spaces are not used f…
Towards a Situated Understanding of Vulnerability - An Analysis of Ugandan LGBT+ Exposure to Hate Crimes in Digital Spaces
This study maps Uganda LGBT+ experiences of online hate crime and analyzes how preexisting vulnerability morph in digital spaces. Based on field notes, workshop material, and interviews with 13 LGBT+ individuals, the study finds that digital presences in contexts where users are vulnerable due to state-sanctioned discrimination and social exclusion, digital arenas exacerbate users' vulnerability to hate crimes through their digital footprints. Th…
Understanding the current backlash against LGBTIQ+ rights through the lens of heteroactivism: A case study of the International Organization for the Family’s transnational norm diffusion on Twitter
A new generation of transnational anti-gender actors are framing themselves as human rights champions and protectors of the rights of the “natural family”. To better understand these actors’ norm diffusion, including their re-styling of anti-gender narratives in contemporary iterations of heteroactivism and its potential threat to LGBTIQ+ rights, in this article we analyse the social media tactics of a key transnational anti-gender actor: the Int…
Who relates to whom and according to which rationale? Visibility and advocacy in the Ugandan LGBT+ Twittersphere
An increase in international funding for LGBT+ rights advocacy in Uganda has resulted in not only a mushrooming of organizations but also intra-community competition for visibility, attention, and limited resources. Against this backdrop, we set out to study how organizations relate to each other in the Ugandan LGBT+ Twittersphere. Following an analytical framework around rationalities of mediated participation, we study with whom Ugandan LGBT+ o…
Development cooperation and the stratification of lesbian, gay, bi- and transsexual activism: International donors, elite activists and community members during Uganda Pride 2022
Uganda’s infamous state-sanctioned homo-hostility has resulted in intense international attention, development cooperation and Western funding to local lesbian, gay, bi- and transsexual (LGBT+) organisations. However, Western funders and allies in this context are becoming increasingly questioned. Researchers have highlighted the complexities, opportunities and constraints of an increasingly transnational LGBT+ movement, but how is this manifeste…
Governing queer activism: Power and visibility in state funding of international LGBTI organizations
This article examines how international lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) activism is governed through state funding. Through archival material documenting the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency’s (SIDA’s) funding of two international LGBTI organizations – the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association and the Swedish Federation of LGBTQI Rights – complemented with interviews, we …
The Promise of Double Living. Understanding Young People with Same-Sex Desires in Contemporary Kampala
Ugandan urban same-sex desiring individuals frequently encounter and navigate competing understandings of sexuality and sexual identity. Western essentialist understanding of sexual identity introduced by international development partners and transnational LGBT+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi- and Transsexual) activism, as well as media, offer an alternative to Ugandan non-essentialist and fluid subject positions. This article seeks to understand how young i…
We are queer and the struggle is here! Visibility at the intersection of LGBT+ rights, post-coloniality, and development cooperation in Uganda
This article unpacks different meanings of visibility and adds to a more complex and nuanced understanding of visibility and its role in LGBT + activism in Uganda, a widely discussed case of political homophobia. Public visibility has a central, although contested, role here. The study aims to explore how visibility is understood and navigated by local LGBT + activists, unaffiliated people with same-sex desires, as well as international developme…
Sociology (17 works) · Political science (15 works) · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues (14 works) · Gender Studies (12 works) · Law (11 works) · Gender Studies (10 works) · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy (8 works) · Politics (8 works) · Law (7 works) · Media studies (7 works)