The politics of truth at LGBTQ+ Pride: contesting corporate Pride and revealing marginalized lives at Hong Kong Migrants Pride

Conway, D. 2023. The politics of truth at LGBTQ+ Pride: contesting corporate Pride and revealing marginalized lives at Hong Kong Migrants Pride. International Feminist Journal of Politics. 25 (4), pp. 734-756. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616742.2022.2136732

TitleThe politics of truth at LGBTQ+ Pride: contesting corporate Pride and revealing marginalized lives at Hong Kong Migrants Pride
TypeJournal article
AuthorsConway, D.
Abstract

This article focuses on the articulation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ+) identities, lives, and rights at Pride events in Hong Kong. I argue that analyzing Pride as a Foucauldian “regime of truth” reveals how it is embedded in and reproduces broader ideological effects and structures of global capitalism. Focusing specifically on the corporate Out Leadership Asia Summit and Hong Kong Migrants Pride, organized by migrant domestic worker (MDW) unions and LGBTQ+ activists, the article explores transnational discourses of “global homocapitalism” that frame LGBTQ+ identities in individual and economically productive terms. By contrast, Migrants Pride highlights the exploitation of work and the precarity of MDWs and forges intersectional alliances with the feminist social justice movement. These differing conceptions of LGBTQ+ lives and needs form a contested “politics of truth” that exposes the tense and incongruous relationships between local and global, neo-liberal and collective, and rich and poor that underpin the dynamics of privilege and marginality of LGBTQ+ subjects in Hong Kong. The article argues that Pride’s co-option is an uneven and shifting process across global contexts. Migrants Pride, by enacting queer resistance to discourses of “corporate Pride,” offers a case study of how Pride can be a platform for social justice activism.

KeywordsQueer Activism
LGBTQ+ Pride
homocapitalism
Foucault
migrant domestic workers
JournalInternational Feminist Journal of Politics
Journal citation25 (4), pp. 734-756
ISSN1461-6742
1468-4470
Year2023
PublisherTaylor & Francis
Publisher's version
License
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
File Access Level
Open (open metadata and files)
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/14616742.2022.2136732
Web address (URL)https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14616742.2022.2136732
Publication dates
Published online11 Nov 2022
Published in print2023
ProjectThe Global Politics of Pride: LGBTQ+ Activism, Assimilation and Resistance
FunderLeverhulme Trust

Related outputs

'We are here, we are queer and we are African': Discussing Pride, Feminist and LGBTQIA+ Activism in Johannesburg
Conway, D. Forthcoming. 'We are here, we are queer and we are African': Discussing Pride, Feminist and LGBTQIA+ Activism in Johannesburg. Spotify

Activism: Activist Identities beyond Social Movements
Daniel Conway 2022. Activism: Activist Identities beyond Social Movements. in: Ballard, Richard and Barnett, Clive (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Social Change Routledge. pp. 279-291

Whose Lifestyle Matters at Johannesburg Pride? The Lifestylisation of LGBTQ+ Identities and the Gentrification of Activism
Conway, D. 2022. Whose Lifestyle Matters at Johannesburg Pride? The Lifestylisation of LGBTQ+ Identities and the Gentrification of Activism. Sociology. 56 (1), pp. 148-165. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380385211024072

Transgressing Transnational Normativity? British Migration and Interracial Marriage in South Africa
Conway, D. and Leonard, P. 2018. Transgressing Transnational Normativity? British Migration and Interracial Marriage in South Africa. in: Leonard, P. and Walsh, K. (ed.) British Migration: Privilege, Diversity and Vulnerability London Routledge. pp. 94-114

Banning Taste: Boycotts, Identity, and Resistance
Conway, D., Brighi, E., Kaul, N. and Khalili, L. 2018. Banning Taste: Boycotts, Identity, and Resistance. in: Schwabe, A., Pascu, D.F. and Connuck, J. (ed.) The Empire Remains Shop New York, US Columbia University Press. pp. 47-50

Shades of White Complicity: The End Conscription Campaign and the Politics of White Liberal Ignorance in South Africa
Conway, D. 2017. Shades of White Complicity: The End Conscription Campaign and the Politics of White Liberal Ignorance in South Africa. in: Afxentiou, A., Dunford, R. and Neu. M. (ed.) Exploring Complicity: Concept, Cases and Critique London Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 119-142

Margaret Thatcher, Dress and the Politics of Fashion
Conway, D. 2016. Margaret Thatcher, Dress and the Politics of Fashion. in: Behnke, A. (ed.) The International Politics of Fashion: Being Fab in a Dangerous World London Routledge. pp. 161-185

Struggles for Citizenship in South Africa
Conway, D. 2014. Struggles for Citizenship in South Africa. in: Isin, E.F. and Nyers, P. (ed.) Routledge Handbook of Global Citizenship Studies London Routledge. pp. 240-251

Migration, Space and Transnational Identities: The British in South Africa
Conway, D. and Leonard, P. 2014. Migration, Space and Transnational Identities: The British in South Africa. London Palgrave Macmillan.

Masculinities, Militarisation and the End Conscription Campaign: War Resistance in Apartheid South Africa
Conway, D. 2012. Masculinities, Militarisation and the End Conscription Campaign: War Resistance in Apartheid South Africa. Manchester Manchester University Press.

Intersecting Whiteness: Interdisciplinary Debates
Steyn, M. and Conway, D. 2010. Intersecting Whiteness: Interdisciplinary Debates. Ethnicities. 10 (3), pp. 283-291. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468796810372309

Queering Apartheid: The National Party’s 1987 ‘Gay Rights’ Election Campaign in Hillbrow
Conway, D. 2009. Queering Apartheid: The National Party’s 1987 ‘Gay Rights’ Election Campaign in Hillbrow. Journal of Southern African Studies. 35 (4), pp. 849-863. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070903313210

“Somewhere on the Border - Of Credibility”: The Cultural Construction and Contestation of ‘the Border’ in White Society
Conway, D. 2008. “Somewhere on the Border - Of Credibility”: The Cultural Construction and Contestation of ‘the Border’ in White Society. in: Baines, G. and Vale, P. (ed.) Beyond the Border War: New Perspectives on Southern Africa’s Late Cold War Conflicts University of South Africa (UNISA) Press.

Contesting the Masculine State: White Male War Resisters in Apartheid South Africa
Conway, D. 2008. Contesting the Masculine State: White Male War Resisters in Apartheid South Africa. in: Parpart, J.L. and Zalewski, M. (ed.) Rethinking the Man Question: Sex, Gender and Violence in International Relations Zed Books. pp. 127-142

The Masculine State in Crisis: War Resistance in Apartheid South Africa
Conway, D. 2008. The Masculine State in Crisis: War Resistance in Apartheid South Africa. Men and Masculinities. 10 (4), pp. 422-439. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X07306742

Masculinities and Narrating the Past: Experiences of Researching White men who Refused to Serve in the Apartheid Army
Conway, D. 2008. Masculinities and Narrating the Past: Experiences of Researching White men who Refused to Serve in the Apartheid Army. Qualitative Research. 8 (3), pp. 347-354. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794106093631

White Masculinities
Conway, D. 2006. White Masculinities. in: Jones, A. (ed.) Men of the Global South: A Reader London Zed.

Masculinitiy,Citizenship and Objection to Military Service in the South African Defence Force
Conway, D. 2005. Masculinitiy,Citizenship and Objection to Military Service in the South African Defence Force. in: Gouws, A. (ed.) (Un)Thinking Citizenship: Feminist Debates in Contemporary South Africa Aldershot Ashgate.

‘Every Coward’s Choice’? Political Objection to Military Service in Apartheid South Africa as Sexual Citizenship
Conway, D. 2004. ‘Every Coward’s Choice’? Political Objection to Military Service in Apartheid South Africa as Sexual Citizenship. Citizenship Studies. 8 (1), pp. 25-45. https://doi.org/10.1080/1362102042000178418

Africa in the International System
Conway, D. 2002. Africa in the International System. in: Nel, P. and McGowan, P. (ed.) Power, Wealth and Global Order: An International Relations Textbook in Africa University of Cape Town Press.

Permalink - https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/w01z8/the-politics-of-truth-at-lgbtq-pride-contesting-corporate-pride-and-revealing-marginalized-lives-at-hong-kong-migrants-pride


Share this

Usage statistics

55 total views
104 total downloads
These values cover views and downloads from WestminsterResearch and are for the period from September 2nd 2018, when this repository was created.