Existentially Surplus

Abstract

Through readings of Cherríe Moraga's book of poetry and prose The Last Generation and memoir Waiting in the Wings, this essay argues that Moraga's refusal to ascribe to any notion of ideological or political purity—whether normative or queer—regarding reproductive sexuality indexes the dual nature of racialized, gendered, and sexualized power in the contemporary moment. That is, Moraga's complex identifications as butch and mother, queer and nationalist confounds any categorical definition of radical politics or recalcitrance to power. In the wake of the new social movements of the 1960s and 1970s, a new mode of power emerged that constitutes surplus as both surplus labor—produced out of the conditions of exploitation—and surplus existence—produced out of conditions of devaluation. In this new capitalist configuration, Moraga's very inconsistency can be read as a condition of “crisis.”