Rosemary Hennessy is Associate Professor of English at the University of Albany, SUNY. She is the author of Materialist Feminism and the Politics of Discourse (Routledge, 1993) and the co-editor of Materialist Feminism: A Reader in Class, Difference, and Women's Lives (Routledge, 1997).
"This book is a must. It focuses on a highly contested terrain: the
production of desire. But it never falls into the trap of just
following a fashion; unlike many other books, it wants to be useful
to its readers, wants to give women more capacity of action by
showing how to intervene into the conditions of their lives."
-Frigga Haug, author of "Female Sexualization and Beyond Female
Masochism
"A must-read. Hennessy gives us a brilliant new Marxist feminist
analysis of the commodification of culture in global capitalism and
the creation and management of sexual identities. Her historical
approach uncovers problems not only with classical identity
politics but also with postmodern queer theory and politics with
incisive criticisms of Althusser, Williams, Butler and De Lauretis.
Unlike some books which do not connect to practice, she sketches a
radical collective politics that provides a plausible alternative
to the theories she critiques."
-Ann Ferguson, University of Massachusetts
"Hennessy demonstrates lucidly and persuasively the
indispensability of the Marxist tradition both to an understanding
of how sexuality is organized by the capitalist drive for profit
and to the formulation of a radical sexual politics."
-Barbara Foley, Rutgers University, author of "Radical
Representations: Politics and Form in U.S. Proletarian Fiction,
1929-1941
"Countering the 'localisms' of contemporary queer theory with a
materialist feminist analytic, Rosemary Hennessy offers the first
book length statement on the political economy of homosexuality.
Even readers resistant to her commitments and conclusions will find
"Profit "and Pleasure a necessary tool in rethinking the
intimaciesbetween capitalism and sex."
-Robyn Wiegman, Director, Women's Studies, University of
California, Irvine
![]() |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
![]() |