Cole Rizki

“Travesti Tide: Trans Politics Beyond Liberalism” examines Argentine travesti politics and aesthetics to bring the study of democracy and its illiberal correlates to the forefront of trans studies. Moving across travesti and trans photographic archives of resistance, state intelligence and police archives, literary and cultural production, and activist practices that respond to state terror, “Travesti Tide” establishes a new historical and cultural interpretation of trans politics as a response to illiberal state violence and its forms. At the same time, “Travesti Tide” revises the study of fascism, authoritarianism, and populism by highlighting how sex and gender are central to these forms of governance and power. In doing so, “Travesti Tide” provincializes US-centric histories of state violence, the liberal democratic state form, and modes of identity politics that continue to underwrite the field of trans studies. With the support of the ACLS fellowship, Rizki is also guest editing a special issue of “NACLA: Report on the Americas” slated for March 2025 dedicated to trans and queer activisms and resistance struggles across the Américas.