Ask a Feminist: Susan Stryker Discusses Trans Studies, Trans Feminism, and a More Trans Future with V Varun Chaudhry

In this conversation, transgender studies scholars Susan Stryker and V Varun Chaudhry discuss the emergence of the field of transgender studies and its continued relevance and necessity today. First, Stryker discusses some of the key texts central to the emergence of transgender studies in the late 1980s and early 1990s, contextualizing these texts within a broader political context. Stryker then tells the story of the emergence and growth of Transgender Studies Quarterly (TSQ), the first transgender studies journal, since its first publication in 2014. Moving into a discussion of transgender studies in the present, Chaudhry and Stryker highlight an emerging trans-of-color critique and its roots in Black and women of color feminisms. Finally, Stryker and Chaudhry discuss moving into a “more trans future,” where trans serves as heuristic, conceptual tool and method for feminist scholarship. By emphasizing institutional formations and the politics therein, Stryker and Chaudhry contribute a timely, nuanced perspective on the work of transgender studies within a broader field of feminist studies.