Overview
Trans stories of modernity. “Sex reassignment” in the 20th century and its colonial ghosts*
How is trans* history intertwined with modernity and coloniality? Jonah I. Garde shows that “sex reassignment” in the early 20th century was both a sign of scientific progress and deeply rooted in racist theories of personhood – as well as a central site of engagement with modernity and coloniality in popular mass media. It becomes clear how the perspective on trans* historiography changes when colonial historical aspects come into focus. Jonah I. Garde’s research also makes extensive reference to Viennese sources, the Institute for Sexual Research and the experiments of the Viennese endocrinologist Eugen Steinach on “sex changes”.
Date
December 03, 2025, 6:30 p.m.
Contributors
© Hayf PhotographyJonah I. Garde (Dr. phil.), born 1988, is a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.