Sexual Capitalism: Marxist Reflections on Sexual Politics, Culture and Economy in the 21st Century

Paul Reynolds

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (journal)peer-review

    2 Citations (Scopus)
    79 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    From an apparent impasse and crisis in the 1970s and 1980s – politically and intellectually – Marxism has recovered to offer critical insights into contemporary changes and developments in late capitalist societies. Sexuality has been one area where Marxist critiques of commodification and consumption, reification, cultural production and its hegemonic effects and the structures of feeling and meaning-making that compose contemporary subjectivities have been of significant value in decoding legal, political and cultural changes in the regulation, prohibition and propagation of forms of sex and sexuality. This discussion will draw from some of the most important contributions to Marxist critiques of sexuality, contemporary and historical, to outline the contours of a critique of contemporary sexuality in society, notably Peter Drucker, Holly Lewis, Rosemary Hennessy, David Evans, and Keith Floyd. The Marxist critique of contemporary sexual politics and rights claims both recognises the importance of these struggles and provides a materialist critique that demonstrates both the contemporary power of Marxist analysis and a critical engagement with queer and constructionist “orthodoxies”. Marxism has become a central and important ground for exploring the vagaries of sexuality under capitalism in all its objectifying, commodifying, alienating and exploitative forms.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)696-706
    JournaltripleC:Communication, Capitalism and Critique
    Volume16
    Issue number2
    Early online date4 May 2018
    DOIs
    Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 4 May 2018

    Keywords

    • sexuality
    • politics
    • culture
    • community
    • commodification
    • political economy

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Sexual Capitalism: Marxist Reflections on Sexual Politics, Culture and Economy in the 21st Century'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this