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Political economy and the closet: heteronormativity in feminist economics

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  • Colin Danby

Abstract

Returning to a question raised by M. V. Lee Badgett in the first issue of Feminist Economics, this paper traces the persistence of heteronormativity in feminist economics to assumptions that kinship is organized around conjugal bonds. These assumptions let “the family” stand automatically for a husband, wife, and their children. “Heteronormativity” is not a synonym for heterosexual privilege, but rather names tacit conceptions about what is socially normal, conceptions that make it possible to think of heterosexuals or homosexuals as essential categories of people. Critique of heteronormativity makes visible a pattern of state repression that makes proper citizens by opposing them to improper ones, a process that simultaneously shapes gender, sexuality, citizenship, and race. Such critique opens the opportunity to better understand gender, integrate scholarship on lesbians and gays, link gender analysis more directly to racializing processes, and reopen the category of heterosexuality.

Suggested Citation

  • Colin Danby, 2007. "Political economy and the closet: heteronormativity in feminist economics," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 29-53.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:femeco:v:13:y:2007:i:2:p:29-53
    DOI: 10.1080/13545700601184898
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Keynes, John Neville, 1890. "The Scope and Method of Political Economy," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, edition 4, number keynes1890.
    2. Badgett, M.V. Lee, 2001. "Money, Myths, and Change," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226034003, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Drucilla K. Barker, 2013. "Feminist economics as a theory and method," Chapters, in: Deborah M. Figart & Tonia L. Warnecke (ed.), Handbook of Research on Gender and Economic Life, chapter 2, pages 18-31, Edward Elgar Publishing.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Family; gay; heteronormativity; lesbian; queer theory; subjectivity; JEL Codes: B4; D1;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B4 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology
    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior

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