A Queer Theory of the State

by Samuel Clowes Huneke

Queer theory has often been hesitant to align itself with a politics of the state, approaching it with a negative or pragmatic framework. A Queer Theory of the State expands an earlier online essay from The Point by historian Samuel Huneke to offer a more optimistic perspective. Rather than eschew political engagement with democratic theorizing, Huneke asks how queer theory can wed its critically anti-normative impulses to the empirical need for a state. In answering this question, Huneke shows how the state is an integral component of a politics that seeks to subvert and undo the oppression of queer lives.

Genres: Queer, LGBT, Nonfiction

92 pages, Paperback

Published December 12, 2023

About the author

Samuel Clowes Huneke is a historian of modern Europe, with a focus on the social and political history of twentieth-century Germany. He is broadly interested in how everyday life intersects with and shapes the relationships between citizens and states. His research foci include the history of gender and sexuality, legal history, and the history of dictatorship and democracy. Dr. Huneke received a B.A. summa cum laude in German and Mathematics from Amherst College, an M.Sc. with Distinction in Applicable Mathematics from the London School of Economics, and a Ph.D. in History from Stanford University. He is current an assistant professor of history at George Mason University.

Reviews

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deeply thoughtful and inspiring but ironically is a critique of critique

[Navya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good and concise!

[Julian Pyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting in some aspects — but seems to fall into the exact rhetorical flaws it criticises modern queer theory for. Criticism without concrete political action.

[Sonny Caterini · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this, especially in contrast to a whole semester spent absorbing a lot of heavy, dense, and anti-state queer critiques

This book resonates a lot with my political beliefs which feels wrong to say, because of exactly what Samuel describes: queer people love to hate the state. I like how although this book disagreed with many common queer/leftist opinions, it wasn't doing it in a negative way, and felt pointed towards productive growth and change. Seeing the way politics are currently playing out is really making me sad... and it also makes this little book feel even more important. I like the idea that at this point in history, we need to lean into power, instead of away from it. Was comforting to see another queer person express this sentiment. I want to purchase this book so I can mark it up because he articulates lots of concepts I have failed/been too scared to articulate in arguments. I can definitely see myself writing something similar to this in the future during my undergrad years. I am curious to how I will feel about this book in 10 years. The beliefs in this book also go against the mainstream ideologies at my college and of my classmates, and I wonder how being in this demographic influences my ideas. I finished this after waking up from a Nyquil nap coming off of 2 days of being horribly ill and for the first time in 48 hours I feel human again. Yay

[Kjæmpe Seebach · Rating 1 out of 5]

meget løse upolerede tanker (jeg var ikke fan):

centristisk og pragmatisk tilgang til staten
enormt amerika-centreret

Huneke bliver igen og igen ved med at henvise til et empirisk behov for en stat, men forklarer aldrig hvilket empiri han trækker på.
Han nægter at klasse at tale om klasse og nedgør (ikke helt det rigtig ord, underminere måske) queer aktivister der gør.

Han taler igen og igen om at højrefløjen misbruger deres magt igennem staten, og i stedet for at stille spørgsmålstegn ved at staten så groteskt kan misbruges, er hans løsning at “venstrefløjen” (de amerikanske demokrater) bare skal blive bedre til at sprede deres propaganda og misbruge statsmagten.

Han kritiserer queer teoris tendens til at være, ja, teoretisk, dvs. ikke at komme med en plan of action eller noget konkret. Det er jeg til dels enig i, problemet er bare at han gør præcis det samme: der er intet konkret, bare en kritik af en kritik.

Han kritiserer den queer venstrefløj for at være naive og urealistiske i deres “fantasier” om et statsløs, fællesskabdrevet samfund, men hans løsning på statens nuværende undertrykkelse er et “moment of clarity”, hvor samfundet (og deri staten) bare langsomt beslutter sig for at opføre sig mere etisk og korrekt ????

[Kathleen O'Neal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was assigned by my professor, Dr. Samuel Huneke, as a part of his Global History of Gender and Sexuality class in the fall of 2023. It was a pleasure to discuss his work with him in the course. We spent the course reading many of the works that Dr. Huneke draws on in this short study and as a result, this made the book all the more meaningful and insightful for me. I found his theory of an ideal queer state very moving and inspirational. Really loved this. A vision of a future worth working towards.

[Michael Rapp · Rating 3 out of 5]

A worthwile essay that highlights an important issue facing progressive and especially queer and antiracist politics today: how are we to conceive positively of the role of the state? How can state power be put to progressive ends and be utilized to change societal norms and conditions for the better?

Ironically i would say that Huneke exhibits one of their main points of critique in their work themselves: While they put forward a compelling critique, the constructive, positive part of the essay seems somewhat half baked imO.

Worth the read!

[Stephen Scarano]

Best read as a manifesto (it’s perfectly pamphlet-sized), but it’s disappointing that despite 80 pages of complaints regarding Queer theory’s negativism, no *positivist* synthesis of queer theory and statecraft is presented.

[Maughn Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not so often that an essay on political theory articulates so many ideas I've been been hatching myself and pushes them deeper. Brilliant and beautifully-written.

[niklas · Rating 4 out of 5]

gute kritik am neo-liberalismus und seiner fehlenden Unterstützung bei queeren Themen. auch spannend ist der Entwurf eines queer, utopischen Staats(Konzepts)

[Dafna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh geez. My apologies, but this should be called “queer theory scholars discover stuff that political anthropologists have been writing about for the last few decades.”

[Killian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should be called "In Defense of Liberal Capitalism"--> ultimately I'm glad I read this because it helped me frame some of the arguments in modern politics. I appreciate his argument.

We benefit from having a State, to some degree.