"Fix Your Hearts or Die: A theoretical examination of transgender death and dying"


Camille Nichols, University of Manitoba

Recently there has been a call for a “queering” of death studies, troubling and reframing expectations for what makes a life worth grieving and how capitalism and the political apparatus hastens death and eliminates human and non-human entities alike. My paper is a theoretical examination of transgender death and dying through the lens of Achille Mbembe’s concept of necropolitics. Necropolitics aptly illustrates the ways transgender people have been subjugated to such extents that they are in a liminal state of being, continually on the precipice of destruction. This paper is also an exploration of posthumanist conceptions of mortality in a trans context, where death is not necessarily about extermination, but is a cyclical force. This paper contributes to broadening scholarship on death and dying in the social sciences. Focusing on transgender identities challenges dominant narratives of mortality, death, dying, and aging, opening the death studies field to diverse perspectives and theoretical discussion. Public health, choosing who lives and who dies, who withers, and who thrives, is the entirety of the political power apparatus. Necropolitics, according to Mbembe, prohibits life for the marginalised. Higher rates of physical and sexual violence, harassment, and experiences of poor mental health, thoughts of self-harm, and drug use to cope with victimization are detrimental to the lives of transgender people in Canada and can result in early death. Bills and legislation restricting gender-affirming care in the United States exacerbate an already tenuous relationship between 2SLGBTQ+ people and the healthcare system. Transphobic sentiments and hate crimes in the United Kingdom contribute to hostile climate for gender-diverse people. This informs the ways trans people have been subjugated to the point of their experience as what Mbembe calls the “living-dead.” However, death is not always the terminus in a trans context, but a necessity; for example, a deadname is part of what must go to be fully alive. Parts of a previous or even a false identity must be destroyed to create, to transform oneself. It should be understood there is a complexity and even joy in transition. By extending this framework, ideas of human mortality make space for a celebration of life. By following Mbembe’s necropolitics, transgender people have had entire populations exterminated through violence, oppression, and subjugation. Breaking down social dualities and hierarchies is a tool of liberation. Overcoming hegemonic modes of understanding life and death is an imperative. In posthumanism, there is no binary or purity in humanity-- the only constant promise of living on this earth is change. To frame transgender identities as systemically threatened and marginalised is important to understanding barriers to a peaceful end of life. Additionally, questioning established hierarchies, expectations, and reframing death as part of a larger existential experience allows for the further queering of human mortality. If we want to imagine a world where transgender people live, thrive, age, and eventually die an expected death as so many people do now, examining and focusing on transgender experiences is vital scholarship.

This paper will be presented at the following session: