Public debates on education and gender and sexual diversity reveal how closely knowledge, power, and social norms are intertwined, and how certain experiences and perspectives are systematically silenced. However, issues of gender and sexuality are marginalized not only in educational policy but also in educational theory. The lecture first examines the neglect of gender- and queer-theoretical perspectives in poststructuralist educational theories following Foucault and Butler, and explores the epistemic boundaries that are discursively produced in the process. Against this backdrop, it analyzes the construction of unspeakabilities in contemporary anti-feminist and queerphobic mobilizations within the context of education and upbringing. Using the debate over the 2015 curriculum as an example, the presentation demonstrates how issues of gender and sexual diversity are discursively shifted from public education into the private sphere of the family. The debate thus appears as a conflict-ridden contact zone where different orders of knowledge collide. This paper analyzes how, in these zones, certain forms of knowledge and subject positions are systematically rendered unspeakable and unliveable, and how epistemic violence manifests itself therein.
Juno Grenz is a research associate in the Gender Studies Unit at the Institute of Education at the European University of Flensburg. Her research focuses on queer theory, educational theory and theories of subjectivation, antifeminism, right-wing extremism, discourse analysis, and intersectionality. In her dissertation, „Bildung in Zeiten von Antifeminismus“ she examines the relationship between education, gender, and sexuality from a discourse-theoretical perspective and, in her analysis of the debate surrounding the “2015 Education Plan” triggered by anti-feminist attacks, traces mechanisms of reproduction and transformation of orders of unspeakability. The dissertation was published in the fall of 2025 as open access by Barbara Budrich Verlag. Also in the fall of 2025, the volume she co-edited, „Pädagogik und Geschlecht als Gegenstand politischer Kämpfe“ was published as open access by Barbara Budrich Verlag.
The room is accessible via elevators. There are two accessible restrooms on the first floor (1.G40s and 1.G40h).
On the same floor, there is an all-gender restroom (1.G40n) with both urinals and seated toilets. Additionally, there is a FLINTA* restroom (2.G40q) on the second floor, close to the CGC office rooms.
The CGC strives to ensure the best possible accessibility for its events. If you require assistance to participate in our event, please let us know your support needs by April 15, 2026, via email to cgcentrum@soz.uni-frankfurt.de. We will then do our best to mitigate any barriers within our capabilities.
You are welcome to attend this event with your children. Please contact us at the email address above by April 15, 2026, if you would like us to arrange childcare as well. We look forward to your participation.
