Over the Rainbow: Money, Class and Homophobia

by Nicola Field

No

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, LGBT, Queer

200 pages, Hardcover

Published July 1, 1995

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Firstly, I have no problem with the subject matter, and agree whole heartedly with her assault on the preening, postering, parochial essentialisng identitarianism which has taken over the lgtbq+ movement. While historic strands of the gay rights movement had a commitment to labour movements (as Pride shows so well), socialist campaigns and a focus on material issues, due to the death of the radical left, what "radical" politics now turns into is a succession of witless performative acts, where a uniquely defined "gayness" is elevated as some sacred element, largely as a sop to left-neoliberal diversity wokewashing (a fixation on personal lifestyle, on individual acts of affirmation, on psychology, on veneration of gay businesses and gay CEOs, or on politicians and elites, an obsession with representation in culture above everything else etc). Incidentally, one can copy and paste 'gay' for 'black' or 'women' and it would largely make no difference. Mystifying class and essentialising culture, identity politics is nothing but a vehicle for the cementing of a new minority bourgeoisie (and a continual harragning of leftwing social movements as somehow not speaking to 'minority interests', whatever in the hell that is, or even worse, engaging in the obscene crime of 'class reductionism', a semi mythical construction largely invoked to deny the capacity to talk about class in any way, shape or form at all).

All that's well and good. But my god is this terribly, terribly written. Unending passages that largely feel like a sort of colour-by-numbers leftist theory, utterly dry and tedious regurgitation of the most bog standard incurious Marxist talking points ('the family is a patriarchal instution. Engels pointed out in the Origins of the Family that the family was made by capitalism to regulate working class women and ensure a continual stream of new workers to continue their exploitation. This is bad' - sort of thing). Her message is essentially over by like page 100, even earlier perhaps, and yet she ploughs on, endlessly going over and over and over on the same basic point ad nauseum. It's an ungodly boring and tedious work. Huge portions are simply taken up by her simply block quoting various people, huge ungainly masses of text, the sort of thing you might do in a first draft at the first tear of university but should have purged out of your system by this point. Skim read this, if you must, but dont waste your time slugging through all of it.

[Kris Šiošytė · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really excellent look at class and oppression issues. Well researched and insightful. Somewhat lacking in racial discussion regarding these issues, but does not overlook things as many have done before. Definitely worth a read.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

British thinker. Quite sobering in these ludic and desire drenched times.