Towards a gay communism : elements of a homosexual critique / Mario Mieli ; translated by David Fernbach and Evan Calder Williams ; introduction by Massimo Prearo ; foreword by Tim Dean.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mieli, Mario, author.

Contributor:

Class of 1953 Fund.

Standardized Title:

Elementi di critica omosessuale. English

Language:

English

Italian

Subjects (All):

Homosexuality.

Male homosexuality.

Gay liberation movement.

Socialism and homosexuality.

Physical Description:

xxxviii, 269 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

Revised English translation.

Place of Publication:

London : Pluto Press, 2018.

Language Note:

Translated from the Italian.

Summary:

First published in Italian in 1977, Mario Mieli's groundbreaking book is an early landmark of revolutionary queer theory - here available for the first time in a complete and unabridged English translation, with extensive annotations. Among the most important works ever to address the relationship between homosexuality, homophobia and capitalism, Mieli's essay continues to pose a radical challenge to today's dominant queer theory and politics. With extraordinary prescience, Mieli exposes the efficiency with which capitalism co-opts 'perversions' which are then 'sold both wholesale and retail'. In his view the liberation of homosexual desire requires the emancipation of sexuality from both heteropatriarchal sex roles and capital. Drawing heavily upon Marx and psychoanalysis to arrive at a dazzlingly original vision, Towards a Gay Communism is a hitherto neglected classic that will be essential reading for all who seek to understand the true meaning of sexual liberation under capitalism. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Homosexual Desire is Universal p. 1

2 Fire and Brimstone, or How Homosexuals Became Gay p. 55

3 Heterosexual Men, or rather Closet Queens p. 110

5 A Healthy Mind in a Perverse Body p. 179

6 Towards a Gay Communism p. 208.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1953 Fund.

ISBN:

9780745399522

0745399525

0745399517

9780745399515

OCLC:

953976813