Neo-liberalism, Cinema and Trajectories of South Asian Queer visibility

• Main Author: Mandal, Malay
• Other Authors: YSI Asia Convening 2019
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: H. : ĐHKT 2020
• Subjects: Neo-liberalism; New economic processes; Queer; South Asia
• Online Access: http://repository.vnu.edu.vn/handle/VNU_123/70932
• Institution: Vietnam National University, Hanoi

“Neo-Liberalism” is been a site of academic contestations since its emergence as new form of embedded liberalism in the 1950s and 60s. This neo-liberalism has played a central role in the new economic processes towards the development of laissez faire economy with the combination of liberalist philosophy, is what Fredrick Hayek claims. Scholar like David Harvey‟s question, how was neoliberalism accomplished, and by whom, claims that the free market „deal‟ and economic ramification have negative impact on freedom, democracy and human rights, as it entails creative destruction and reshapes division of labour, social relations, welfare provisions, and ways of life and thought. Although neo-liberalism is seen as political economic theory and practices that champions privates property rights, free market and free trade which affects every dimension of social life, but, also contains cultural perspectives. Scholars like David Hall and Duggan opine that a „cultural politics‟, as a form of common sense revolves around the naturalness of the market, primacy of the competitive individual, and the superiority of the private over the public. In terms of cinema, these politico-cultural perspectives provide various interesting nuances regarding free market economy, private investment and state control over cultural expression. The discussion gets more intensified when we see queer intervention in mainstream films in terms of identity politics or performing art and aesthetics. „Queer‟ is an umbrella term connotes variety of sexual embodiment with in society such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender etc. Though understanding of Queer politics heavily borrowed from western philosophy but throughout its development it imbibed indigenous nuances. This paper engages neo-liberalism and cinema to see how queer identity politics and visibility coming to existence as form of resistance and cultural expression in contemporary south Asia. For this purpose I have taken films from three countries such as Srilanka, India and Pakistan to understand queer sexual subjectivities within neoliberalism through the dynamics of free market, public consumption, and state control over non-normative cultural expression in south Asia.