The Twilight of Equality? Neoliberalism, Cultural Politics, and the Attack on Democracy

by Lisa Duggan

By now we've all heard about the shocking redistribution of wealth that's occurred during the last thirty years, and particularly during the last decade. But economic changes like this don't occur in a vacuum; they're always linked to politics. The Twilight of Equality? searches out these links through an analysis of the politics of the 1990s, the decade when neoliberalism-free market economics-became gospel. After a brilliant historical examination of how racial and gender inequities were woven into the very theoretical underpinnings of the neoliberal model of the state, Duggan shows how these inequities play out today. In a series of political case studies, Duggan reveals how neoliberal goals have been pursued, demonstrating that progressive arguments that separate identity politics and economic policy, cultural politics and affairs of state, can only fail. Ultimately, The Twilight of Equality? not only reveals how the highly successful rhetorical maneuvers of neoliberalism have functioned but, more importantly, it shows a way to revitalize and unify progressive politics in the U.S. today.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Economics, Queer, History, Theory, Academic

136 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 2003

About the author

Lisa Duggan is Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University. Duggan was president of the American Studies Association from 2014 to 2015, presiding over the annual conference on the theme of "The Fun and the Fury: New Dialectics of Pleasure and Pain in the Post-American Century."

Duggan earned her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Duggan is also one of the editors of queer commentary website, Bully Bloggers, developed with José Esteban Muñoz, Jack Halberstam, and Tavia Nyong’o. Duggan has described herself as a "commie pinko queer feminist". She was written on topics including feminist responses to pornography and homonormativity.

Reviews

[Mehrsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is brilliant and it's the best book I've read thus far that explains the uncomfortable nexus between the "culture war" and neoliberalism conflict. I mean come for the analysis of neoliberalism, but stay for her takedown of Andrew Sullivan

[Chels]

Read specifically for chapter 3, Equality Inc, where Duggan defines "the new homonormativity." I think there is a lot of conversation in queer spaces about related concepts (pinkwashing, corporate Pride, etc.) but it's often divorced from the context that Duggan, and other queer writers have provided (Douglas Crimp comes to mind!), which is that in the 90s conservative gays-- Andrew Sullivan, famously-- pushed marriage, monogamy, and assimilation as a post-AIDS* panacea, a sort of atonement for past sins** and were able to shift the national conversation toward a nebulous, safe, abstract view of equality that left everyone who wasn't in specific, elite circles, in the dust.

* In 1996, after the release of protease inhibitors, Sullivan wrote "When Plagues End" for the New York Times. As countless people have pointed out, AIDS has not ended, but now that it's more prevalent among Black people in the American South it is no longer a concern for wealthy, conservative white gay men like Sullivan.

** "AIDS as a moral issue" is particularly insidious. People often think of Reagan and Falwell and Helms and other conservatives as being the leaders behind this belief, and while that's true it's permeated through the rest of society. Douglas Crimp has spoken about this, his friends and colleagues disbelief that he could be diagnosed with HIV after studying AIDS for decades. His answer to that *why*: "Because I'm human."

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

economics and culture cannot be separated and the Left needs to be on guard against attempts to divide them. pretty basic but, you know, on the flip side, succinct. wins points for being dry and clear, also for describing a rival's work as a "thoroughly humorless little homily".

loses points for claiming to be a general look at the economic dimension of the "culture wars" but in fact focusing mostly on attacks on queer activism at the expense of looking in any depth at increases in institutionalised racism and misogyny. Also there's a bit of a missed opportunity here to interrogate the rise of the concept of "classism", a culturally focused reframe of a what would seem to be the paradigmatic economic issue.

my main issue is that I was kind of hoping for at least a bit of a look at the failures of the cultural studies part of the progressive academy to confront capitalism — which is a thing! it's not just a strawman accusation levelled at feminists, queers, and anti-racists by white brogressive anti-capitalists. instead, duggan critiques gay neocons (fish in a barrel at this point if you're even remotely left-wing) for an excessive focus on identity , and the previously-mentioned strawman-accusing anti-capitalist types for an excessive disavowal of identity/cultural politics. it's …almost as if duggan doesn't wanna listen to any critiques of the camp she's aligned with? SAY IT AIN'T SO

[Lauren Levitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers a history of neoliberal economic and cultural politics, and Duggan argues that the left needs to recognize the interrelationship between culture and economics. Although the political climate these days seems more illiberal than neoliberal, her critique of the false split between economic universalism and identity politics on the left still stands. The book is also useful for its case studies of the gay rights movement and the culture wars as well its extensive bibliography of contemporary progressive thought. This book is short and fun to read. Duggan does not hold back as she goes after everyone from Andrew Sullivan to Naomi Klein. At least you'll be laughing as the world burns.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this book all the time because it very effectively addresses the interplay of rightwing cultural politics (at this point i would say postmodernism) and class politics by the Republicans over the 1990s. It also covers such things as why many NGOs in the U.S. are very moderate (the social movements that generating them are gone, so they're left as sort of the froth of the wave washed up on the beach.) Anyway, highly recommend it, especially if you're interested in the identity v. class dichotomy that Thomas Frank started up again in What's The Matter With Kansas.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an old text I had to purchase for a course in college, I believe my feminist theory class. When cleaning out my books recently, I almost pitched it--generally speaking, books that discuss the current state of politics simply don't age well, and it's been almost ten years. Then I realized that I'd already read half of it, and I only had about 45 pages left. So I decided to finish it.

Boy, I'm glad I did. This book was actually really fun to read. Parts of it were sort of dull, and then WHAM. Great incisive points, some serious burns thrown in, and really large theoretical issues raised. It's become historical on some level, but this book also raised some truly fascinating questions for me about how the author's agenda must have changed in the intervening ten years, or how different our culture was back then, where we've seen a tremendous shift in "identity politics" and the political view on economics and neoliberalism. This book really made me think back to how queerness was viewed back when I was first coming out, and how our political landscape really worked back then. I don't think I've ever really been fascinated by a feminist theory text before, but this one was hilarious for me in its burns on writers that the author didn't like, and also fascinating knowing now, ten years later, how our culture and world has shifted. I wrote a lot in the margins. Shockingly fun.

[Quin Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, brief (if dated) primer into neoliberalism and the challenge it poses to left politics. Duggan clearly lays out how the seemingly contradictory positions of social conservatism and economic deregulation came to be united in the contemporary US. She further elaborates how the distinction between class and identity politics is spurious, counterproductive, and untenable, as well as how neoliberalism has also incorporated limited claims to equality and recognition for select segments of marginalized social groups (eg white cis homonormative wealthy gay men). Duggan calls for a creative and reinvigorated left politics that recognizes the necessity and inextricability of both class and identity politics.

Especially illuminating in light of Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In, which is the epitome of neoliberal "feminism."

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and quick introduction to the cultural politics of neoliberalism (and how they connect to the political-economics of neoliberalism). I appreciated Duggan's complex critique--not only neoliberals but the "progressives" who have been depoliticized by neoliberals and the leftists who think "class comes first, sweetie."

The first installment in this semester's reading list. The chapter on gay neoliberals and homonormativity, "Equality, Inc.," will be useful for my thesis.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book very important for leftists of our times, especially in the wake of the 2016-era anti-“IdPol” Left which transformed into so-called “MAGA Socialism” a few years ago as well as renewed attacks on the “culture war” in the wake of Luigi Mangione’s propaganda of the deed against the healthcare industry, Lisa Duggan’s Twilight of Equality? Neoliberalism, Cultural Politics, and the Attack on Democracy takes a two-pronged approach to identity politics and its relationship with the left. To her right, Duggan cracks open the efforts of neoliberals to appropriate once intersectional and radical identity movements, such as the gay and women’s movement, into “a neoliberal brand of identity/equality politics,” while to her left, Duggan takes aim at left universalists, proponents of economism and populism, who seek to cleave from identity politics their basis in the political economy of capitalism, who uphold a “stark either/or framing of identity politics vs. progressive activism [that] is both distorted and counterproductive” (44/75).

A very short work, Duggan begins by dissecting, “naming and shaming,” as it were, the neoliberalism totally dominant in U.S. politics by 2003. Duggan ascribes to neoliberalism “a kind of secular faith. Its priests were elected by no one, and are accountable only to the global elites whose interests are promoted by its policies” (xi). Characteristic of neoliberalism is the presentation of neoliberal policy rhetorically as neutral and managerial, limiting in an empiricist manner the scope of problems and their available solutions. Accompanying this, in the United States, is the limiting of political difference to liberal and conservative, Democratic and Republican, sparring on domestic policy. Integral to this process are neoliberal political alliances based in identity (xiii-xvi). That Duggan recognizes this might seem to make her prone to an anti-“IdPol” position, but Duggan locates the weakness of the post-1970s US progressive-left into not just identity politics, but a fragmented identity politics which abandoned earlier, intersectional, and radical understanding of the world and solutions (xvi-xx).
Duggan argues that “neoliberalism was constructed in and through cultural and identity politics and cannot be undone by a movement with constituencies and analyses that respond directly to that fact…reinventing global politics [will be impossible]...as long as cultural and identity politics are separated from [political economy]” (3). This is Duggan’s distinction: rather than bury our heads in the sand and capitulate to the neoliberal colorblindness on identity issues that the right confronts the left with, the left must respond with counters to the politics of privatization and personal responsibility that neoliberalism embraces in both economic and cultural categories (12-17).

Duggan analyzes the 1978 passage of California Prop 13 and the 1997 controversy over women’s studies at SUNY to locate cultural war politics initiated by conservatives not in politics of distraction but instead political economy. With the passage of Proposition 13, homeowners in California both limited property taxes and gained subsidies the longer a home was owned (causing the current day Californian housing crisis). This ballot measure was not simply a conservative anti-tax revolt, but instead had a basis in racial discrimination and perceived problems of minorities and effects on property value (57-42). The SUNY controversy, while appearing to be a simple case of conservative moralism vs. liberal academic freedom, instead had its origins in an active push by New York Governor George Pataki, conservative New York PACs, and conservative SUNY board of trustees members in pushing forward “the neoliberal vision of a shrunken and pacified public universities,” pushing narratives about misuse of public funds and immoralism to pursue privatization (31).

Duggan then sets her sights on the “Equality, Inc.,” that particular brand of “equality politics” that, from the 1980s and intensified in the post-9/11 era, “moved away from civil rights lobbies and identity politics organizations to advocate the abandonment of progressive-left affiliations, and the adoption of a neoliberal brand of identity/equality politics” (44). Part of this came in the form of the restructuring of rights activism itself, “gay civil rights groups [having] adopted neoliberal rhetoric and corporate decision-making models” (45). Neglecting earlier intersectional analysis, in which one would find anti-imperialist manifestos in a gay zine, mainstream neoliberal equality politics adopted “Americanism of model gay ‘heroes’ and ‘victims’...jingoistic blindness” (46). Whereas once gay rights groups would have deplored the dropping of bombs, now they merely criticized the existence of homophobic rhetoric written on the shells themselves, as exemplified by the USS Enterprise “fag bomb” incident in 2001 (46-47). Analyzing the “Independent Gay Forum,” Duggan attacks the neoliberal intellectualism of conservative Catholic Andrew Sullivan’s Virtually Normal and the libertarian David Boaz, Boaz for the obvious absurdities of a gay libertarianism and Sullivan for his conservative defense of homosexuality as “innate,” his ridiculous attacks on the socially constructed nature of sexuality, and his misogyny in attacking gay organizations over feminist influence (55-66).

Finally, Duggan analyzes the critique and embracing of identity politics by various theorists and historians on the left, finding various New Left critics of identity politics as lacking and “the distinction between political economy and culture [as] unstable and political unproductive…” (83). Instead, citing radical historian Robin Kelley, Duggan argues that “though identity politics sometimes fetters multiracial/multicultural left politics, it has also often enriched the conception of class rather than displaced it” (85). Rather than surrendering identity politics to neoliberalism through a reductive rejection in favor of an imagined barrier from political economy, we must embrace an identity politics which results from genuine analysis of political economy and the activism resulting therefrom.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book's critique of Andrew Sullivan's politics in the 1990s is excellent and worth reading, and its first couple of chapters are a good basic primer on neoliberalism that would work well for teaching. Duggan's point that neoliberal policies have been built on disciplining racial / gender/sexual "others" is well articulated (though not new.) However, her concluding prediction that the effort to "discipline the troops" struggling against neoliberalism will fail was an overly-optimistic one in 2003 - when the total sell-out of the anti-war movement to the John Kerry campaign was about to happen. Also, it's striking to read a book dedicated to bringing together cultural and economic politics against neoliberalism that makes so little mention of union activism.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Duggan argues for a hybrid politics that goes beyond the split between the "cultural" and "redistributive" left, noting that complaints about "identity politics" as not attempting to critique capitalism are based on reductive and bad history. Although Duggan doesn't deny that identity politics can be used to put a shine on capital, she shows how the most effective critics of such policies are often those who work from the standpoint of identity.

[Phillip · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting, concise, and (largely) convincing volume about the politics of neoliberalism--a major force in contemporary ideology--and the failure of leftists (read democratic, progressive activists and thinkers) to combat neoliberalism. Very highly recommended for anyone interested in feminism/gender studies, marxism, leftist/activist politics, or any kind of ideological conflict.

[ARK · Rating 5 out of 5]

intelligent and lucid.

[Evan Woodward · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick, incisive read that situates the struggle against neoliberalism within cultural studies, which is an angle I hadnt seen before. A good companion if David Harvey has got you down.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for social inequality

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When it first came out, I was a little skeptical of what felt like an extreme position. 17 years on, and it looks not only prescient, but maybe even too optimistic.

[Jada · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been vaguely aware of neoliberalism for a while now (I know that it's associated with Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and maybe Edward Seaga), but I didn't really know what it was apart from "when the government does bad stuff that makes money". This book enlightened be, but it was definitely not what I expected it to be—that's not a bad thing though! I expected it to be more on neoliberal policy and its formation, but in reality, there was one chapter on that, and the rest more on social movements and their intersection with neoliberalism, which was something that I was vaguely aware of but interested to read more about in an academic sense.

One idea that was hammered in throughout the book (I believe they call that a thesis) was that neoliberalism presents its policies as neutral, economic, and entirely separate from other aspects of life, like culture and politics. I think some Marxist I learnt about in sociology also theorised that capitalism artificially separates the economy from institutions such as the family, when in reality, they are intertwined. This split became apparent when it came to social movements: previously, they were more intersectional, not strictly aligned to a particular "vector of oppression", but with the rise of neoliberalism came more single-issue organisations, focused more on court stuff, embracing identity politics, and playing the "liberal game", rather than their previously-held, more revolutionary ideals. class politics were separated from identity politics.

the last chapter was a bit too opaque for me—I ended up barely skimming the last half—but apart from that, the book was excellent, concretizing ideas which were just vaguely floating around in my head, and making the connection between the rise of neoliberalism and its intersection with social movements. The book was written in 2004, and since this is like 18 years afterwards, I should be able to determine whether its assertions were true: whether the US or the wider world has rid itself of neoliberalism, but I don't think I know enough to do that.

[Underconsumed Knowledge · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book ends with a sentence that says "then maybe we'll have something worth living for," so if NAFTA and Bill Clinton's politics make you want to kill yourself, check this book out out, it's only 80 pages.

The author is correct that the more "the left" argues with one another's progressive sub-causes, the more it will be completely ineffective (politically speaking). But, this paper thin book is pretty paper thin on ideas beyond that.

A much better left-politics book for today's day and age is Hate Inc by Matt Taibbi

[Keith Wheeles · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book takes on singe-issue liberalism (identity politics, concerns over concentration of corporate power, privatization, deregulation, etc.) and argues for integration of progressive liberal causes as the best hope for change. And it makes a compelling case. At times fascinating, at times a little 'inside baseball' for me - I'm not as steeped in the cause and language and a few of the distinctions seemed a bit arcane to me.

[Marsha Altman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relatively short but dense book explaining neoliberalism in detail and how activist movements were defanged and brought into the mainstream. I was skimming for a book project so I can't say I have a good grasp on what this book was saying.

[thalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Succinct and important

[amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Valuable history of [some aspects of] the 90s via not-so-distant political analysis.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and clarifying. A book that seeks reflection.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a very short, but dense book. Even though some topics are out of my usual interests, the author saw economic issues so clearly back then, when my reading topics were quite different.

[butterbook]

duggan says:'this is a book for intellectuals and activists, gay and straight, interested in how the highly successful rhetorical maneuvers of neoliberalism have functioned and seeking a way to revitalize and unify progressive politics in the US today'translation:even if you've done your homework on liberalism, neoliberalism, and progressive politics of the last 60 years AND have reference points for obscure academics like judith butler, michael foucault, nancy fraser, and others, be prepared for some thick WAYYY verbose writing sandwiched between a decently well-articulated introduction and, well, nothing at all. it's more like toast with stuff on it than a sandwich, really. interesting stuff, at times tasty stuff, but ultimately not-worth-the-headache stuff. my faculty sponsor recommended this, otherwise i would have read the first two pages, had a soothing cup of herbal tea, and passed it on to a grad student.consider yourself warned.---- a half star for a good thesis, one cloud for unrelenting loftiness and a conspicuously absent conclusion. at least it was only 90 pages.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book will always be the book that I started reading in a tattoo shop, but other than that, it's not very memorable. After seeing the book cited in various articles, I found it terribly underwhelming. There are significantly better books and articles written about neoliberalism and about neoliberalism as it interacts with identity politics. Maybe the book was more groundbreaking in 2003 when it was written? Nonetheless, her critique of neoliberalism feels very unoriginal at this point. Further, her writing is often unacademic and at even more times condescending. Her discussion of the works of other authors is constantly aggressive, reductive, dismissive, and condescending even as she critiques those their presence in these other works, presenting a very hypocritical, underwhelming, unkind, and much less than academic discussion of other texts. I was thoroughly disappointed.

[b bb bbbb bbbbbbbb · Rating 1 out of 5]

Liked: there were some thoughtful ideas, but very little substantial or worthwhile follow through. i like the general premise, which is about recognizing and supporting good aspects in different organizing strategies instead of allowing the differences to degenerate into infighting and paralysis.. Disliked: for a book expressing such a strong desire to break down barriers it was ironically inaccessible. there was a consistant failure to define academic and activist jargon. the author routinely fell into traps which they criticized others about.

[Linus Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read that does show how neoliberalism, in it's many forms and guises, does attack both democracy and the Left. The blatant attack on simple things highlights the major issues within society today -- free speech ain't so free and neither is privacy -- and gives some suggestion on how we can resolve this.

The language isn't necessarily in layman's terms as it is written from an academia position so it can be somewhat a challenge to get through the meager 88 pages but it is informative if one takes the time.

[Albert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting subject, but the writing style was extremely difficult for me. I got the main point, but failed to understand many parts of the book. At about 65%, of I gave up my struggle to understand all of the technical terms and quickly turned the pages to come to the end.

[Garrett Hoffman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good primer to neoliberalism as it exists in the social in the US - IMO, supplement with Harvey and Ong. Readable and quick, though.