Vol 31 Nr 2 (2026): Thinking Wildly with Jack Halberstam

THIS SPECIAL ISSUE of lambda nordica takes stock of literary scholar and theorist Jack Halberstam’s formative influence on queer thinking in the Nordic region. Nordic researchers respond to Halberstam’s call to imagine the world otherwise and engage with his analysis of contemporary cultural phenomena and politics. The issue features three research articles spanning from an exploration of queer temporality through ageplay (Bengtsson), an ethico-political argument for the potential of impotence (Stathopoulos), to a critical examination of Halberstam’s description of the zombie economy of animal-keeping (Lönngren). Three essays thematize aesthetic practices as archives of queer lives (Rosenberg), porn magazines as platforms for queer subjectivities (Rydström), and the influence of Black nihilist and Afropessimist scholars on Halberstam’s notion of unworlding (Weinstein). The issue concludes with a conversation between the editors and Jack Halberstam on the implications of the current U.S. leadership for critical scholars engaged in work on issues of gender, sexuality, race, and diversity.

Cover photo: Del LaGrace Volcano