Danny and Derek welcome back Samuel Huneke, assistant professor of history at George Mason University, to talk about his new book, A Queer Theory of the State. The group discusses the various notions of queer theory and the state, how queer politics and activism can engage in state power, the neoliberal contingent of the queer community, where thinkers from Michel Foucault to Judith Sklar fit into this, and Sam’s vision of what a queer state might look like.
When I see Sam on an episode I always know it's gonna be a good one. Although, I would quibble with saying identity can't be subsumed within class. I don't have a full theory but identity conflict seems to be the main battlefield of class struggle in the US at the moment. I think of it in terms of the master slave dialectic.
The slave is struggling with the depths of its own character and identity. It struggles with the diversity and creativity within itself because of its lack of power to execute its vision in the world. At the same time, the master struggles with the changes in its own identity. The struggles enter a new phase when the master recognizes itself in the slave and produces cultural goods to satisfy it and also affirm its emerging identity.
My hope is this leads to a further weakening of ideology but only time will tell.
I disagree with Sam’s contention that neoliberalism aims to dismantle the state. I actually feel that neoliberalism’s entire purpose is to give the state power, maybe not through a “government,” but through the consolidation of capital in the hands of elite private capital (the deep state).
So I disagree that the aims of radical queer theorists and neoliberals (for example, in opposing marriage equality) are in agreement, at least in the long term. Radical queer theorists want to dismantle the state, neoliberals want to consolidate the power of the state in the hands of elite private capital.
When I see Sam on an episode I always know it's gonna be a good one. Although, I would quibble with saying identity can't be subsumed within class. I don't have a full theory but identity conflict seems to be the main battlefield of class struggle in the US at the moment. I think of it in terms of the master slave dialectic.
The slave is struggling with the depths of its own character and identity. It struggles with the diversity and creativity within itself because of its lack of power to execute its vision in the world. At the same time, the master struggles with the changes in its own identity. The struggles enter a new phase when the master recognizes itself in the slave and produces cultural goods to satisfy it and also affirm its emerging identity.
My hope is this leads to a further weakening of ideology but only time will tell.
I disagree with Sam’s contention that neoliberalism aims to dismantle the state. I actually feel that neoliberalism’s entire purpose is to give the state power, maybe not through a “government,” but through the consolidation of capital in the hands of elite private capital (the deep state).
So I disagree that the aims of radical queer theorists and neoliberals (for example, in opposing marriage equality) are in agreement, at least in the long term. Radical queer theorists want to dismantle the state, neoliberals want to consolidate the power of the state in the hands of elite private capital.