Sex, needs and queer culture : from liberation to the postgay / David Alderson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Alderson, David, 1968- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Queer theory.

Neoliberalism.

Homosexuality.

Physical Description:

viii, 316 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Zed Books, 2016.

Summary:

the belief of many in the early sexual liberation movements was that capitalism's investments in the in the norms of the heterosexual family meant that any challenge to them was invariably anti-capitalist. In recent years, however, lesbian and gay subcultures have become increasingly mainstream and commercialized - as seen, for example, in corporate backing for pride events - -while the initial radicalism of sexual liberation has given way to relatively conservative goals over marriage and adoption rights. Meanwhile, queer theory has critiqued this "homonormativity," or assimilation, as if some act of betrayal had occurred. In this work, the author seeks to account for these shifts in both queer movements and the wider society, and argues powerfully for a distinctive theoretical framework. Through a critical reassessment of the work of Herbert Marcuse, as well as the cultural theorists Raymond Williams and Alan Sinfield, the author asks whether capitalism is progressive for queers, evaluates the distinctive radicalism of the counterculture as it has mutated into queer and distinguishes between avant-garde protest and subcultural development. In doing so, the book offers new directions for thinking about sexuality and its relations to the broader project of human liberation.

Contents:

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Transitions

Is capitalism progressive (for queers)

Feeling radical: versions of counterculture

Subculture and postgay dynamics

Postscripts

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index (pages 302-316)

Other Format:

ebook version :

ISBN:

9781783605132

1783605138

9781783605125

178360512X

OCLC:

947139158