lazlazlaz:

this one is dedicated to my good friend sean j <3

aaaaaaaahhhhhh look at this, its so good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This post is more or less a bibliography, looking at a burgeoning sub-genre of queer theory that seeks to undermine the assumptions (and particularly the neocolonial geo- and chronopolitics) of queer liberalism. This happens primarily from a queer-of-color or queer Marxist vantage point. Authors like Rod Ferguson, who undoubtedly helped to lay the groundwork for the current moment in queer theory, even explicitly articulate this shift in queer theory as formative in the same way that the shift from second- to third-wave feminism was (and which necessarily involved a coalition of people of color, indigenous, and socialist/Marxist activists).

This bibliography is flawed. It notably doesn’t include much indigenous/Native/First-Nation or any disability studies work. This is largely due to gaps in my own competency (which assembling this bibliography has helped me to recognize). In addition, it’s rooted in academia, which I don’t mean as a slight against people who publish work outside of that context. Again, this bibliography reflects my own competencies and patterns to a large extent.

With those caveats, I’ll jump right in:

Against Equality. http://www.againstequality.org/

Against Equality is an editorial collective that has been resisting the individuated market-push toward queer assimilationism since it went live in 2009. Seriously, just go access their archives and resource pages. They’ve done half the work of this bibliography already.

Chasin, Alexandra. 2001. Selling Out: The Gay and Lesbian Movement Goes to Market. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

This book gives a concise history of the shift from a radical queer framework to an assimilationist (and thereby pro-capitalist and -imperialist) modality. Chasin follows the groundwork laid by authors like John D’Emilio, but critiques their account of the synergistic relationship between capitalism and gay/lesbian identity. Out of print now, but it’s worth checking out from the library, even though it could use an updated edition.

Duggan, Lisa. 2004. The Twilight of Equality? Neoliberalism, Cultural Politics, and the Attack on Democracy. Boston: Beacon Press.

In this book, Duggan specifically articulates assimilationism as a form of neoliberalism, and develops a critique of the politics that Chasin is critiquing in Selling Out, through building on Lauren Berlant’s work on queer citizenship. This book is famous for having brought the word “homonormativity” into academia (though, as Susan Stryker has pointed out, the word was used by trans* activists as early as the mid-1990s).

Eng, David. 2010. The Feeling of Kinship: Queer LIberalism and the Racialization of Intimacy. Durham: Duke University Press.

This text is, as far as I know, the first to explicitly try to elaborate a theory of what queer liberalism is, and in that respect is already immensely useful. The introduction and conclusion are where that work is done, and since Eng is a literature and media scholar, the core of the text is centered around those methodologies. It’s an interesting read, nonetheless, though people who aren’t inclined to read comparative literature texts will want to focus on the introduction and conclusion.

Ferguson, Roderick A. 2003. Aberrations in Black: Toward a Queer of Color Critique. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

A formative text in intersectional queer theory, Ferguson is also one of the first and one of the best authors at explicitly and deliberately tying together discourses about race, political economy, and the state. Though Ferguson, like Eng, uses some comp lit methodologies, his work is invaluable (particularly his chapter on the Moynihan Report).

Morgensen, Scott Lauria. 2010. Settler Homonationalism: Theorizing Settler Colonialism within Queer Modernities. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 16(1-2): 105-131.

This article puts forth a theory of settler colonialism as the linchpin of global financial capital and imperialist capitalism, and as such, offers a great deal of insight into the queer politics present in both Palestine and North America. For more from this journal that specifically articulates with opposition to queer liberalism and its antecedents, see the rest of GLQ 16(1-2), a special issue on “Sexuality, Indigeneity, Nationality” or GLQ 16(4), a special issue on “Queer Politics and the Question of Palestine/Israel.”

Muñoz, José Esteban. 2009. Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity. New York: NYU Press.

This text, like the Eng text, is likely to have diminishing returns on effort put into reading past the introduction, but it’s such a vital intervention that I couldn’t not include it. Especially powerful is Muñoz’s outright mockery of privileged pessimism in the introduction.

Puar, Jasbir. 2007. Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times. Durham: Duke University Press.

This is a big one. While Puar doesn’t explicitly address queer liberalism as a system of thought, her elaboration of the concept of “homonationalism” (following “homonormativity,” which itself was following Michael Warner’s concept of “heteronormativity”) has become integral to radical interventions into political economy and war- and prison-industrial discourses. Absolutely vital.

Rosenburg, Jordana, and Amy Villarejo. 2012. Queer Studies and the Crises of Capitalism. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 18(1).

This special issue of GLQ, I think, signals a shift in understanding of queer economics, from the simplistic dichotomization of normative/queer, capitalist/anarchist, individual/collective, etc. The vibrancy of its critique demonstrates that queer economics can be integral to radical political economy more broadly than just questioning assimilationism or critiquing homonationalism, which is an immensely exciting prospect (particularly using the transnational methodologies found in this issue).

Further Reading (For me and for others, as the texts below are ones I haven’t yet read.)

Reddy, Chandan. 2011. Freedom with Violence: Race, Sexuality, and the U.S. State. Durham: Duke University Press.

Stanley, Eric A., and Nat Smith, eds. 2011. Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex. Oakland: AK Press.

Sycamore, Mattilda Bernstein. 2008. That’s Revolting!: Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation. Berkeley: Soft Skull Press.

If you know of anything that’s missing or that I maybe don’t know about, feel free to let me know about it. I’d love to keep this list updated.

lesexoflex:

Color us SEXXXCITED!!! Molly Trull’s POOP ON FACE (Acoustic, Melancholy cover) made a splash in the toilet waters of YouTube yesterday. We can’t believe she dropped this beautiful kid off at the pool in time for us to swim around and enjoy the last vestiges of summer with her! Haunting, lovely, and guaranteed to play on repeat. We’re hungry for more, Molly!!!

Hey girl hey! I know her! She’s great.

And rad.

Alright.

gingerhaze:

brofisting:

madmaryholiday:

misterstibbons:

[Image Description: Photograph of two crows sitting together with white text: “ATTEMPTED MURDER”.]

rozarria:

nogoodhabits:

thanosthemadtitan:

I just snorted.

^

oh my god

this is beautiful

losing my shit

lolololol

Yes.

2012.

Oh my goddess, it’s Zangief!

rresol:morganbryan:

Monet Sutch/Bryan Morgan

I want to cross-stitch this so badly.