Desiring Sameness? The Rise of a Neoliberal Politics of Normalisation

TLDR

Since the 1990s, social movements around sexual politics have sought mainstream inclusion by demanding equal citizenship rights, while growing identity-based consumption and visibility of lesbians and gay men have opened new professional opportunities. The study examines how neoliberal social governance, through professionalisation and knowledge production, reshapes sexuality politics by framing gay and lesbian subjects as national or international constituencies. The author analyses the professionalisation of gay and lesbian knowledge production, highlighting its emergence in political, market, and academic arenas and its role in constructing subjects as national or international constituencies.

Abstract

Since the 1990s the dominant political discourse of social movements concerned with "sexual politics" has been that of seeking access into mainstream culture through demanding equal rights of citizenship. I focus on the changing politics of sexuality in the context of new forms of social governance associated with neoliberalism, central to which is professionalisation and particular forms of knowledge production. Changes in political organising, coupled with the growth in identity-based consumption and the greater visibility of lesbians and gay men as consumer citizens, have provided a variety of opportunities for new professional careers. I discuss these developments and suggest that a key aspect of this increase in professionalisation is the construction of the gay and lesbian subject as part of a national and, in some instances, an international constituency. Finally, I consider how, in recent years, new forms of professionalisation of knowledge production about lesbians and gay men have emerged, not only in terms of political and market interests, but also in the academy.