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- Title
Capitalism, Work, and Sexuality from the Lavender Scare to Now.
- Authors
Phelps, Christopher
- Abstract
"Queer Career" by Margot Canaday is a comprehensive study of the workplace experiences of lesbian, gay, and transgender employees in the United States from the Cold War era to the present. The book argues that queer workers in the mid-20th century were precursors to the precarity of neoliberal capitalism's employment conditions. While the book focuses on the workplace, it does not delve into the role of capitalism in shaping sexual identity and politics. The study fills a gap in the history of capitalism by examining the intersection of sexuality and labor, which has been largely neglected in previous scholarship. The book provides detailed portraits of key figures and moments in queer labor history, but it also has some limitations, such as a lack of coverage on labor unions, anti-gay violence, and the opening of the US military to LGBTQ employees. The author's interpretation of queer employment precarity is innovative, but it may not fully capture the experiences of queer workers in the 1950s and 1960s. The book concludes with a discussion of the neoliberal era and the role of corporations in advancing LGBTQ rights, but it overlooks the broader context of attacks on LGBTQ and labor rights in recent years. Overall, "Queer Career" is a valuable contribution to the field of queer labor history, shedding light on the experiences of queer workers and their contributions to the broader history of capitalism and sexuality.
- Subjects
LGBTQ+ employees; LGBTQ+ history; HISTORY of capitalism; SAME-sex marriage laws; SEXUAL orientation; GAY couples; SAME-sex marriage; HOMOSEXUALITY; SEX discrimination
- Publication
Labor: Studies in Working Class History of the Americas, 2024, Vol 21, Issue 3, p84
- ISSN
1547-6715
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1215/15476715-11199954