Der vorliegende Beitrag fragt, wie queere Lebensweisen heute entstehen und sich reproduzieren. Es wird argumentiert, dass viele, die ein queeres Leben in begehrenswerterweise leben wollen, schon lange einem der zentralen Orte der sozialen Reproduktion entkommen müssen, der Familie. Damit verbunden ist die Notwendigkeit, alternative Sorge- und Unterstützungsnetze aufzubauen, was oft nur durch (gegenkulturelle und andere) Räume außerhalb des häuslichen Bereichs ermöglicht wird. Weiter argumentiere ich, dass diese Tatsachen vielleicht überraschend oft in kulturellen (Mainstream-)Darstellungen von queerem Leben vorkommen, beispielsweise in Film und Fernsehen der letzten 30 Jahre. Überraschend deshalb, da dies im Widerspruch zu vielen anderen prominenten kulturellen Darstellungen steht, die verhandeln, wie sich LGBT-Menscheninzwischen innerhalb herrschender Institutionen etabliert haben, insbesondere Ehe und Familie, also – wie viele andere zurecht angemerkt haben – inmitten der Entstehung der völlig entpolitisierten "neuen Normalen".
The "problem of organization" has long been a core preoccupation of the Marxist tradition and labour movements. This article argues it is best understood as what some social planners call a "wicked problem," one that cannot ultimately be "solved," only "re-solved—over and over again." It identifies a set of hallmark theoretical tools developed by the Italian Marxian tradition of operaismo (sometimes referred to as "autonomist Marxism") with which it can nevertheless be productively approached. First, a "Copernican inversion" of "orthodox"—specifically, "dialectical materialist"—Marxism, focusing on the primacy of labour struggles in driving capitalist development. Second, an attention to "class composition" and the shifts in the political expression of labour movements as the technical make-up of labour changes. Third, accounting for these shifts through an analysis of "cycles of struggle." And finally, approaching the (wicked) problem of organization in terms of an effort to increase labour's "autonomy" from capital.
This paper situates Guy Standing's recent work on 'the precariat' within a broader body of literature exploring processes of 'precarisation', at work and across the social field. It sets out the differential distribution of 'precarity' (including on the basis of gender, geography, status and sector) resulting from transformations in labour and the political economy, the rollback of social democracy and of 'industrial citizenship' (where these existed), as well as from processes of globalisation. The paper argues that, like many other works, Standing's book, The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class, de-couples its discussion of precarious, neoliberal labour and life from the explicitly utopian agenda of radical reform it ultimately proposes. Drawing on Kathi Weeks' engagement with Ernst Bloch's work, the paper suggest Standing's utopianism remains abstract, detached from an analysis of the social forces, movements and struggles that might bring it into being. It makes use of Antonio Negri's distinctive, heterodox interpretation of V.I. Lenin to provide a framework for theorising how concrete utopian projects of radical political transformation – which is to say, 'realist' or materialist ones – are extrapolated out of spontaneous struggles; the predominant 'will', ethics and structures of which are always largely determined by the social, political and economic context from which they emerge. It is shown how, on the basis of this approach, Negri (in his collaboration with Michael Hardt) has constructed the notion of 'multitude' as a potential model for political organisation today – apposite to the precarious reality described by Standing and others. They draw on Baruch Spinoza's political philosophy – often counterposing it to that of Thomas Hobbes – to affirm the capacity for common political action and decision despite heterogeneity, and to ground political organisation in social conflict rather than contract. Finally, drawing on Alain Badiou's distinction between 'immediate' and 'historical uprisings', the paper explores the degree to which a number of contemporary movements and struggles might have tentatively achieved what he calls 'qualitative extension' – establishing connections and a ground for common action across social spaces and strata – potentially setting in motion enduring projects of political organisation and constitution that resemble the multitude model.
Die in diesem Band versammelten klassischen und neueren Schlüsseltexte der Queer Studies zeigen, wie queertheoretische Perspektiven unser Verständnis von Geschlechterverhältnissen und Sexualität, von Rassismus, Nation und Migration, von Kapitalismus und Klassenverhältnissen, von Kultur und Subkultur, von Subjektivität, Identität und Körper verändern. Der Band führt in die wichtigsten theoretischen Positionen ein und zeichnet die zentralen Entwicklungslinien des Diskurses nach.
