Theoretical Foundations of an Anti-Racist Queer Feminist Historical Materialism

Abstract

Bringing together Karl Marx’s key intellectual contributions and the best of contemporary anti-racist (critical race) queer feminism is a promising direction for critical social theory. Important studies exist that use this approach. However, its theoretical foundations have not been adequately clarified or elucidated; this article attempts to do so. The proposed anti-racist queer feminist historical materialism rethinks Marx’s materialist conception of history and theory of the capitalist mode of production through the more expansive conceptions of social reality offered by anti-racist queer feminism while simultaneously reworking the latter contributions through Marx’s critical materialism and particular attention to historical specificity and social form.