Lambda Nordica 1/2021

lambda nordica is a peer-reviewed open-access academic journal of LGBTQ studies. The oldest of its kind in the Nordic region, the journal is dedicated to interdisciplinary research in lesbian/gay/bi/trans* and queer studies. lambda nordica is a regionally based journal that takes inspiration from international sibling journals such as [i]GLQ[/i], [i]Sexualities[/i], [i]Journal of Homosexuality[/i] and [i]Journal of Lesbian Studies[/i], and aims to foster international collaboration and dialogue, and to offer junior as well as senior researchers an opportunity to publish in both English and Scandinavian languages. The journal also reviews Nordic and international literature in the field of LGBTQ studies.  lambda nordica was founded in 1989 as a Swedish/Nordic cultural journal dedicated to homosexuality research and aimed at a broader audience, in close collaboration with the LBT movements at the time. For the past 10 years, however, lambda nordica has been an academic journal aimed at researchers, teachers and students, and we have been online and open access since 2012.

This open issue includes research articles on hook-up app research (Paul Byron and Kristian Møller), kink memes in digital fandom cultures (Silja Kukka), and on how youth health clinics in Sweden approach clients with vulvar pain (Renita So?rensdotter). Magdalena Go?rska’s We’re Here contribution concerns the political significance of breathing. The introductory editorial by Elisabeth Lund Engebretsen and Erika Alm, takes a critical look at recent EU and pan-Nordic initiatives to improve LGBTQI+ rights and welfare. Five reviews of recently published PhD dissertations, books and anthologies conclude this issue. This issue’s cover art is by Norway-based artist Ahmed Umar, who also presents his work and vision in a short experimental section titled Cover Art.

• Redaktörernas förord/Editorial. Elisabeth L. Engebretsen and Erika Alm: The State(s) We’re in: European Freedom Zones and Pan-Nordic Collaboration on LGBTIQ+ Rights.
• Cover Art. Ahmed Umar: White March.

Artiklar/Articles

• Paul Byron and Kristian Møller: Flirting and Friendship at the Periphery of Hook-up App Research
• Silja Kukka: “Fandom’s Pornographic Subset”: Kink Meme Communities as Queer Female Practices.
• Renita Sörensdotter: Vaginalsamlagets självklarhet: Samlagssmärta som ett nyckelbegrepp för hur personal på ungdomsmottagningar begripliggör unga kvinnor med vulvasmärtor.

We’re Here

• Magdalena Gorska: Why Breathing is Political.

Recensioner/Reviews

• Elin Bengtsson: Ett kollektivt flickigt kunskapsprojekt.
• Per Esben Myren-Svelstad: Tomromma i titteskåpet.
• Zeynab Peyghambarzadeh and Surya Monro: Considering Transgender in Iran: The Contribution of Zara Saeidzadeh.
• Renita Sörensdotter: Queerifierad antropologi med potential att utveckla queerteorin.
• Cathrin Wasshede: Normer snarare än kärlek och sex – Om kamp för sexualitet och intimitet för personer med normbrytande funktionalitet.