When Homonationalism Becomes Hegemonic: “Homohegemony” and a Meaningfully Materialist Queer Studies

Abstract

ABSTRACT There is limited Marxist, Marxian, or otherwise explicitly materialist queer studies scholarship. While such scholarship is growing, it remains underdeveloped compared to the post-structural strain. This is a serious omission because we need the tools of materialist analyses now more than ever to grapple with incredibly important economic and political issues that are not being discussed nearly enough within queer studies/social movements, such as LGBTQI2S youth homelessness. This discussion can be seen as a modest move in this direction, arguing for the utility of a novel materialist concept, “homohegemony,” to describe, explain, and deconstruct queer new ideological and institutional realities that we find ourselves embedded in, over a decade since Puar’s pathbreaking and incredibly important coining of “homonationalism.” The article theorizes “homohegemony” in order to make a broader case that more materialist interventions into queer studies are needed and have value, particularly in times when homonationalism is increasingly “common sense.”