The Empire Speaks Back: Zambian Responses to European Union LGBTI Rights Diplomacy

This chapter critically examines Zambian responses to European interventions with regard to the human rights of sexual minorities in the country. It specifically focuses on one particular incident occurring in 2013. The chapter, first, discusses the background and context of this incident, which emerged after the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Zambia launched a call for funding proposals specifically mentioning the promotion of LGBTI rights. This is discussed in relation to wider EU involvement in Africa, especially in the area of the politics of sexuality. Second, the chapter discusses the way in which Zambian political and religious leaders responded to the EU call for proposals, providing a critical analysis of the discourse of “Zambian Christian values” and “traditional beliefs,” as well as the invocation of democracy and human rights, by prominent spokespersons. We conceptualize the Zambian response in a postcolonial framework as a case of “the empire speaking back,” while drawing critical attention to the ambiguity of this.