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| Paul B. Preciado | |
|---|---|
| Name | Paul B. Preciado |
| Birth date | 1970 |
| Birth place | Madrid, Spain |
| Occupation | Writer; curator; philosopher; activist |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Alma mater | Complutense University of Madrid; École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales; Université Paris VIII |
| Notable works | Testo Junkie; Manifiesto contrasexual |
Paul B. Preciado is a Spanish writer, philosopher, curator, and activist known for interventionist work on gender, sexuality, biopolitics, and architecture. He is notable for contributions to contemporary debates through books, curatorial projects, and public interventions that intersect with figures and institutions across Europe and the Americas. Preciado's practice bridges literary genres and academic disciplines while engaging with movements and organizations concerned with queer theory, transgender rights, and decolonial politics.
Born in Madrid in 1970, Preciado studied at the Complutense University of Madrid and later pursued postgraduate work in Paris at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and Université Paris VIII. His formative years intersected with intellectual milieus surrounding figures like Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, and Gilles Deleuze, as well as institutions including the Centre Pompidou and the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris. Early exposure to the cultural scenes of Madrid, Barcelona, London, and Paris placed him in contact with curatorial networks linked to the Tate Modern, Museum of Modern Art, and documenta meetings.
Preciado emerged from literary and curatorial circuits with publications and exhibitions that engaged with the legacies of writers and theorists such as Jean Genet, Simone de Beauvoir, and Roland Barthes, as well as with artists shown at the Serpentine Galleries, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, and the Whitney Biennial. His major works include Testo Junkie, Manifiesto contrasexual, and numerous essays published in journals connected to Columbia University, Goldsmiths, and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. He has held visiting professorships and lectured at institutions like Princeton University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the European Graduate School, and participated in festivals and symposia organized by Hay Festival, World Science Festival, and Frieze. Curatorial projects and collaborations have linked him with curators from the Serpentine, Palais de Tokyo, and the Centre Georges Pompidou.
Preciado's theoretical interventions synthesize threads from Michel Foucault's analyses of biopower, Judith Butler's performativity, Donna Haraway's cyborg imaginaries, and Paul B. Preciado-adjacent debates in gender studies and queer theory. He developed concepts that interrogate the pharmacopornographic regime, building on discussions found in texts by Giorgio Agamben, Antonio Negri, and Félix Guattari, and engaging with institutions such as the World Health Organization and the European Court of Human Rights. Preciado's work addresses technologies and infrastructures—pharmaceutical industries like Bayer and Roche, digital platforms like Google and Facebook, and architectural sites such as prisons, malls, and airports—linking them to regulatory frameworks exemplified by the Geneva Conventions and Schengen Agreement. He reframes bodies through analyses resonant with scholars like Achille Mbembe and Sylvia Wynter, and artists such as Nan Goldin, confronting discourses present in the United Nations Human Rights Council and Amnesty International reports.
Actively involved with grassroots movements and NGOs, Preciado has engaged with ACT UP, Federación Estatal de Lesbianas, Gais, Trans y Bisexuales, and Transgender Europe, and has participated in protests and campaigns alongside groups associated with Occupy, Black Lives Matter, and Extinction Rebellion. His public interventions have taken place in settings ranging from the Berlin Biennale and Venice Biennale to demonstrations outside the Spanish Parliament and the European Commission. He has contributed to policy debates and conferences organized by UNESCO, the Council of Europe, and the European Parliament, and has collaborated with cultural institutions including the ICA London, MoMA PS1, and the Museo Tamayo. Preciado's speeches and performative lectures often reference debates involving the American Psychiatric Association, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, and national ministries of health.
Preciado underwent a gender transition that has been publicly discussed in his writings and interviews, and his narrative intersects with medical and legal systems such as national health services in Spain and France, and regulatory bodies like France's Conseil d'État and Spain's Tribunal Constitucional. His autobiographical accounts relate to feminists and trans activists connected to networks including Casa de la Cultura del Barrio, La Plaça de Catalunya assemblies, and Maison des Métallos. Personal experiences are narrated alongside encounters with literary figures like Paul Celan, Fernando Pessoa, and Virginia Woolf, and with music and art scenes linked to venues such as Fabrica, Le Bataclan, and Café Central.
Reception of Preciado's work spans acclaim from academic departments at Columbia, Yale, and University of Cambridge to critique from conservative think tanks and commentators associated with outlets like The New York Post, Le Figaro, and The Spectator. Debates around his concepts have involved interlocutors including Camille Paglia, Jürgen Habermas, and Nancy Fraser, as well as activist disputes among groups represented by Human Rights Watch and the ACLU. Controversies have centered on his positions regarding hormone therapies discussed by endocrinologists at institutions like Johns Hopkins Hospital and gender clinics at the Karolinska Institutet, and on public disputes in media outlets such as Libération, El País, and Der Spiegel. Despite polarizing responses, his influence persists across curricula at universities, programming at museums, and platforms of activist coalitions.
Category:Spanish writersCategory:Transgender writers