Acknowledgments

This collection is indebted to the work that the Queer and Trans Caucus (formerly, the Gay and Lesbian Caucus) of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies seeks to accomplish in shifting the conversations, methods, and modes of interpretation that find a home in eighteenth-century studies. Indeed, our collaboration as coeditors developed out of our work as cochairs for the caucus. We dedicate this collection to the newly minted caucus and its members, especially in their collective aspirations for social, cultural, and epistemological change.

We are grateful to our contributors and their support networks who have believed in this work and labored tirelessly to bring it to fruition. Julia Oestreich has continued to be an advocate for this work, and the University of Delaware Press, under her guidance, has generously provided a home for these collaborative conversations. The transfixing artistry of Kent Monkman and Norval Morrisseau has captivated us—compelling us to reflect and write on them. We are honored by Monkman and the Estate of Norval Morrisseau for granting image permissions.

We remain inspired by Sara Ahmed’s provocation, which we take up in the introduction, that “to be part of a collection can be to become a collective.” This collection models what collective coalitional camaraderie can accomplish, and we offer this work to further agitate toward such efforts in which we might, together, rail against neocolonial regimes embedded in supremacist values that get their kicks on marginalization and discrimination.

Together, we can unsettle.