Normal Life Ch.1

Text: Normal Life Ch.1

Neoliberalism and emphasis on ‘redistribution of chances’

Dean Spade, author of the book ‘Normal Life’, dedicates this particular chapter to laying down the groundwork for further development of his ideas. In this chapter, he presents to us how the discussions and social movements regarding gay and lesbian rights came into light. Moreover, he briefly discusses, toward the end of the chapter, the ways in which trans people can attain their own rights as well as equality.

Spade starts off by introducing the idea of neoliberalism, an economic and political theory that pervades throughout our society, especially in the United States. The idea of neoliberalism, on the surface, is something that anyone would advocate. Neoliberalism promotes ‘freedom’ and ‘choice’ at all levels of class and more widely, on the international level, advocates free trade, privatization and deregulation. On the contrary to its spurious external goodness, it has been observed that neoliberalism, through its ideals, increases the gap between the rich and the poor, takes away the social welfare schemes and basic healthcare services and deprives the low-class people of many more basic necessities without federal support. In addition, people who worked for private businesses were stripped of their job security and power as a part of the labor union. The effect of the implementation of neo-liberalism in the United States did not only negatively influence the people in the country but also families and individuals in other developing countries. Through treaties and agreements like NAFTA and FTAA, the United States exploited the relatively inexpensive human and natural resources of the less powerful countries such as China, India and many Latin American countries. As a result, people in these countries grew more destitute and desperate and started to migrate to developed countries, most notably to the United States, in pursuit of greater monetary compensation. The sudden surge in the number of poor immigrants in the United States and growing number of poor families within the country led to a greater enforcement of laws and regulations in the country. Various immigration laws and criminalization of petty crimes put the poor communities under much chaos and policing.

As most people’s social and economic life fell apart, public sector organizations began to emerge that were led by rich educated white lawyers to fill in the gaps left by the government such as providing basic social and legal services. These organizations did not attempt to instigate the ‘transformative social movement’ which would change the entire paradigm of the society, but aimed to include and incorporate the underprivileged and the minority (including gay and lesbian) through legal reform projects and many more diverse agendas. Amidst this fresh uprising, the sexuality/gender-focused resistance was institutionalized in the 1980s into non-profit organizations led by people of class and educational advantages. As mentioned before, the method of achieving equality for gay and lesbians was to try to assimilate them into society harmoniously.

Dean Spade argues that despite the successful achievements of gay and lesbian activists in earning their rights and convincing the public that their eccentricities as normal and natural, the path to formally recognizing and assimilating the trans people into society is entirely different from the path that gay and lesbian activists took. He identifies numerous obstacles and states ‘a crucial trans politics imagines and demands an end to prisons, homelessness, landlords, bosses, immigration enforcement, poverty, and wealth.’ Furthermore, he asserts that unless there are absolutely ‘equal opportunities’ and ‘redistribution of chances’ within the nation, trans people will not be able to attain their own voice and rights.