Christopher Ewing: The Color of Desire: The Queer Politics of Race in the Federal Republic of Germany after 1970

About this episode

In this episode, we sit down with author Christopher Ewing to discuss his groundbreaking book The Color of Desire: The Queer Politics of Race in the Federal Republic of Germany after 1970. Together, we explore how race, sexuality, migration, and national identity intersected in post-1970 West Germany, and how queer communities both challenged and reproduced racial politics during a period of profound social change. Christopher Ewing unpacks the histories of activism, desire, belonging, and exclusion that shaped queer life in the Federal Republic of Germany, revealing the often-overlooked experiences of queer migrants and people of color. The conversation also examines the broader political and cultural currents of the era — from postwar memory to liberation movements and debates around citizenship and identity. This episode offers a rich and thought-provoking discussion for listeners interested in queer history, race and ethnicity, German studies, migration, and the politics of identity in modern Europe. Sources and Media  You kind find all source material discussed in the episode here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FcWv8mQg-PPWv0pL2CG7e0dW5DYUjJtZEluDbJnILKk/edit?usp=sha