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Topic · Sociology and Political Science

African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues

African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues is a research topic within Sociology and Political Science. Science Explorer counts 7.5k research works in it since 1952. 10.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the diverse landscape of sexualities, politics, and cultural discourse surrounding LGBT rights and human rights in Africa. It delves into the intersections of sexuality, gender, colonialism, and postcolonial politics, shedding light on the complexities of homophobia, queer studies, and the challenges faced by sexual minorities. The papers also address the impact of religion, media, and global influences on the discourse around sexuality in African societies.

  • Sexuality
  • Africa
  • Homophobia
  • Politics
  • Gender
  • Human Rights
  • Colonialism
  • Queer Studies
  • LGBT Rights
  • Cultural Discourse
Research works
7.5k
fractional, since 1952
In the world top 10%
773
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.3%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+31%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
36% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues

Which countries lead African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues research?

By volume, the United States and South Africa publish the most (602 and 227 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 602 works
  2. 2 South Africa 227 works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 210 works
  4. 4 India 162 works
  5. 5 Canada 112 works
  6. 6 Nigeria 87 works
  7. 7 Brazil 76 works
  8. 8 France 69 works
  9. 9 Germany 68 works
  10. 10 Australia 63 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 36.0%South Africa: 13.6%United Kingdom: 12.5%India: 9.7%6 others listed: 28.3%36%largest
United States602 · 36.0%South Africa227 · 13.6%United Kingdom210 · 12.5%India162 · 9.7%6 others listed474 · 28.3%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues research?

By volume in 2022-now, University of South Africa publishes the most African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues research, followed by University of Johannesburg and Stellenbosch University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 University of South AfricaSouth Africa 37 works
  2. 2 University of JohannesburgSouth Africa 26 works
  3. 3 Stellenbosch UniversitySouth Africa 22 works
  4. 4 University of PretoriaSouth Africa 21 works
  5. 5 University of the WitwatersrandSouth Africa 20 works
  6. 6 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 17 works
  7. 7 University of the Free StateSouth Africa 17 works
  8. 8 University of TorontoCanada 15 works
  9. 9 University of KwaZulu-NatalSouth Africa 15 works
  10. 10 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 15 works

Who are the leading researchers in African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues?

The most-cited researchers publishing on African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues include Victoria Clarke and Michel Foucault.

  1. 1 Victoria Clarke United Kingdom 285k citations
  2. 2 Michel Foucault France 208k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues?

The most cited paper in African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues is "In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives" (Christopher C. Nagle, 2006), with 3,191 citations. Next come "Epistemology of the Closet" (3,084) and "BARGAINING WITH PATRIARCHY" (3,024).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives Christopher C. Nagle · The Journal of Popular Culture 5 May 2006 3,191
2 Epistemology of the Closet Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick 1990 3,084
3 BARGAINING WITH PATRIARCHY Deniz Kandiyoti · Gender & Society Sep 1988 3,024
4 Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People, Version 8 Eli Coleman et al. · International Journal of Transgender Health Open access119 authors 19 Aug 2022 2,672
5 The Invention of Women: Making an African Sense of Western Gender Discourses Oyèrónk〓é Oyěwùmí · Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) 1997 1,515
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues research done?

The largest centres of African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues research in 2022-now are Pretoria (South Africa), London (United Kingdom), Johannesburg (South Africa) and New York (United States). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Stellenbosch, Pretoria and Johannesburg.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 PretoriaSouth Africa 63 works
  2. 2 LondonUnited Kingdom 48 works
  3. 3 JohannesburgSouth Africa 46 works
  4. 4 New YorkUnited States 34 works
  5. 5 NairobiKenya 31 works
  6. 6 TorontoCanada 29 works
  7. 7 ParisFrance 26 works
  8. 8 StellenboschSouth Africa 22 works
  9. 9 MelbourneAustralia 20 works
  10. 10 DurbanSouth Africa 18 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. StellenboschZA · 22.3 works24×
  2. PretoriaZA · 62.5 works23×
  3. JohannesburgZA · 46.1 works17×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues than the world average.

See African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues on the map

Where is the best place to study African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Toronto, University of South Africa and University of Johannesburg score highest, combining citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 9.88%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →University of TorontoUniversity of South …University of KwaZul…University of Johann…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of TorontoCanada 72.620.3%3.7×15 +33.1%
2University of South AfricaSouth Africa 62.27.9%43.1×37 +127.6%
3University of JohannesburgSouth Africa 54.85.5%21.0×26 +80.0%
4University of KwaZulu-NatalSouth Africa 53.57.1%20.6×15 +31.8%
5University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 53.214.4%3.3×9 +72.2%
6University of PretoriaSouth Africa 51.35.8%24.4×21 +38.6%
7University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 49.614.4%4.8×12 +66.0%
8Stellenbosch UniversitySouth Africa 48.24.8%29.4×22 +1.2%
9University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom 46.912.1%5.2×9 +37.0%
10University of the WitwatersrandSouth Africa 44.96.5%23.6×20 -19.1%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues, country by country

Is African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 31% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0100% in 2024.

still counting0.0050%0.010%0.015%African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues0.010% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues10.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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