Diverse subjectivities, sexualities and economies: challenging hetero- and homonormativity

Social attitudes towards homosexuality have shifted towards more liberal and tolerant perspectives in many countries over recent decades. Many theorizations of these social changes have linked them to neoliberalism, despite such changes having their origins in older social struggles. This chapter troubles this alignment of neoliberalism with recent advances in legal equalities for LGBTQ people. It points to the diversity of economic relations that exist within and alongside neoliberal agendas and mainstream capitalist forms. A diverse economies approach to sexuality can help rethink sexual politics across specific sexual identity categories and outside of hegemonic neoliberalism. This chapter examines the diverse economies entangled with a digital dating and hook-up app and the solidarity economies which have shaped the rapid adoption of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) as a preventative treatment against HIV infection. While both cases appear, at first glance, to be saturated by neoliberal and ‘homonormative’ imperatives, the author’s reading queers this analysis.