The Ruse of Repair: US Neoliberal Empire and the Turn from Critique

In the 1990s, literary and queer studies scholars shifted from Marxist and Foucauldian critique to the reparative mode, emphasizing compassion and humility in approaching literature and culture. Patricia Stuelke's book "The Ruse of Repair" explores the origins of the reparative turn in the 1970s and 1980s, tracing its connection to feminist, antiracist, and anti-imperialist movements. She questions the effectiveness of reparative criticism and prompts readers to reevaluate their reading practices.

Format: Hardback
Length: 328 pages
Publication date: 24 September 2021
Publisher: Duke University Press

Since the 1990s, literary and queer studies scholars have embraced a mode of criticism known as the reparative turn, which they view as a more compassionate and modest approach to studying literature and culture. This turn has far-reaching implications, shaping how individuals perceive justice, solidarity, and social change. In her book "The Ruse of Repair," Patricia Stuelke delves into the historical roots of the reparative turn, tracing its origins back to the failed struggles against US empire and neoliberal capitalism in the 1970s and 1980s. She demonstrates how feminist, antiracist, and anti-imperialist liberation movements' visions of connection across difference, self-care practices, and other reparative modes of artistic and cultural production have inadvertently reinforced forms of neoliberal governance. At the same time, the US government and military, universities, and other institutions have appropriated and depoliticized these same techniques to avoid addressing structural racism and imperialism in more meaningful ways. Stuelke's book challenges the effectiveness of reparative criticism, prompting critics to reevaluate their own reading practices and approaches.

Since the 1990s, literary and queer studies scholars have embraced a mode of criticism known as the reparative turn, which they view as a more compassionate and modest approach to studying literature and culture. This turn has far-reaching implications, shaping how individuals perceive justice, solidarity, and social change. In her book "The Ruse of Repair," Patricia Stuelke delves into the historical roots of the reparative turn, tracing its origins back to the failed struggles against US empire and neoliberal capitalism in the 1970s and 1980s. She demonstrates how feminist, antiracist, and anti-imperialist liberation movements' visions of connection across difference, self-care practices, and other reparative modes of artistic and cultural production have inadvertently reinforced forms of neoliberal governance. At the same time, the US government and military, universities, and other institutions have appropriated and depoliticized these same techniques to avoid addressing structural racism and imperialism in more meaningful ways. Stuelke's book challenges the effectiveness of reparative criticism, prompting critics to reevaluate their own reading practices and approaches.

Weight: 590g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781478013358