Mariya Levitanus
Affiliation
Mariya is a scholar, queer activist, and psychotherapist from Kazakhstan. She earned her Doctorate in Psychotherapy from the University of Edinburgh in 2020. Her earlier research explored the everyday narratives of queer individuals in Kazakhstan, while her current work focuses on Russian queer and trans* migration to Central Asia following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Mariya’s publications, both past and forthcoming, explore Soviet legacies in shaping queer narratives, the dynamics of queer activism, and decolonial queer knowledge creation in Central Asia, drawing on art‑informed approaches. Her research foregrounds lived experience, critically engaging with how socio-political contexts shape everyday life under authoritarian regimes.
Deeply committed to alternative knowledge creation, Mariya works across academic and community spaces. As a practising psychotherapist, she primarily supports queer and trans* clients. Her therapeutic and scholarly work traces the intersections of place, marginalisation, and the unmaking of normative structures, grounded in decolonial and queer frameworks.
In her teaching, Mariya draws on queer and decolonial pedagogies. In recognition of her commitment towards her students, particularly to her LGBTQI+ and ethnic minority students, Mariya received the Edinburgh University Students’ Association Teaching Award in the Student Voice category in 2024.
Key Research interested include:
- Queer and trans lives in Central Asia
- LGBTQ+ within authoritarian regimes
- Queer and trans migration
- Agency, queer activism, alternative forms of activism
- Gender, sexuality and relationship diversity within counselling and psychotherapy
- Queer and Trans* theories
- Queer Ethics
- Narrative inquiry
- Discourse analysis
- Decolonial Queer and Trans* Approaches
Current and notable research projects/ publications:
Levitanus, M. U. of E., & Suyarkulova, M. A. U. of C. A. (2026). In Our Own Words: Documenting the Queer Everyday in Central Asia. University of Edinburgh.
Levitanus, M., & Kislitsyna, P. (2024). “Why wave the flag?”: (in)visible queer activism in authoritarian Kazakhstan and Russia. Central Asian Survey, 43(1), 12–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2023.2234955
Levitanus, M. (2023). “I thought I’d kill myself when I grew up”:Queer childhood narratives in Kazakhstan. In “I thought I’d kill myself when I grew up”:Queer childhood narratives in Kazakhstan. Emerald Group Publishing.
Levitanus, M. (2022). The Role of Uyat or the Culture of Shame in the Regulation of Queer Subjectivities in Kazakhstan, and Forms of Resistance Against It. In H. Thibault & J.-F. Caron (Eds.), Uyat and the Culture of Shame in Central Asia (pp. 117–149). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4328-7_6