Abstract
This article takes up the commonplace antagonism between ‘second wave’ lesbian feminism and ‘third wave’ queer theory and politics, and argues that the antagonism itself is both historically and politically reductive. First, I make the case that ‘third wave’ queer theory actually shares its central concern – namely, accountability for intra-group inequalities – with lesbian feminism. However, I argue that ‘third wave’ queer theories ultimately founder in their bid for a more reflexive political praxis by tending to hold others – lesbian feminists – accountable for ongoing inequalities rather than grappling with them directly. By contrast, I show that lesbian feminists from the late 1970s to the late 1980s developed a reparative politics that succeeds where ‘third wave’ theories stumble by developing relationships of mutual accountability around issues of race and racism, and by establishing processes by which to repair these relationships when they founder. I conclude by arguing that a fuller attention to the history of lesbian feminism, in fact, offers important resources for feminists and queers dealing with issues of intra-group marginalization, such as transphobia, in the present.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Nancy Luxon and Joan Tronto for their generous engagement with this argument from its earliest inception. Thanks also go to the various discussants and interlocutors of this piece over the course of several years, including Michaele Ferguson and Delia Popescu, and to the Association for Political Theory’s mentoring committee for supporting and soliciting feedback on an early draft. Finally, thank you to the anonymous reviewers at CPT and to editor Lisa Disch, whose feedback on this article has been invaluable in shaping and honing my argument.
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Gambino, E. Politics as ‘Sinister Wisdom’: Reparation and responsibility in lesbian feminism. Contemp Polit Theory 20, 524–546 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41296-020-00457-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41296-020-00457-7