Beyond the Pink Tide: Art and Political Undercurrents in the Americas (Volume 7)

American Studies Now: Critical Histories of the Present

by Macarena Gómez-Barris

How can we create a model of politics that reaches beyond the nation-state, and beyond settler-colonialism, authoritarianism, and neoliberalism? In  Beyond the Pink Tide,  Macarena Gómez-Barris explores the alternatives of recent sonic, artistic, activist, visual, and embodied cultural production. By focusing on radical spaces of potential, including queer, youth, trans-feminist, Indigenous, and anticapitalist movements and artistic praxis, Gómez-Barris offers a timely call for a decolonial, transnational American Studies. She reveals the broad possibilities that emerge by refusing national borders in the Americas and by seeing and thinking beyond the frame of state-centered politics. Concrete social justice and transformation begin at the level of artistic, affective, and submerged political imaginaries—in Latin America and the United States, across South-South solidarities, and beyond.

160 pages, Paperback

Published August 28, 2018

About the author

Macarena Gómez-Barris is Chair of the Department of Social Science and Cultural Studies at the Pratt Institute, author of Where Memory Dwells: Culture and State Violence in Chile, and coeditor of Toward a Sociology of the Trace.

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

good exploration of how performances of queer, GNC, and indigenous artists in latin america contest the nation-state and its many foundational violences (colonialism, imperialism, gender binary, racial capitalism, etc.), such that they constitute radical world-making practices.

at its best when situating performances within broader social and political movements—occasionally overstates the world-making potential of representational art.

[W · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short work in a series that consists of several volumes of around 100 pages on topics in American Studies. On first blush, this might not seem to be directly about American Studies, but it is interested in transnational connections across the Americas, focusing in particular on different forms of performance and art that imagine or enact leftist futures beyond what the "pink tide" of left governments in the early 21st century have been able to (or have failed t0) achieve. It's also a nice reminder of how queer/ cuir movements in Latin America have been far more coalitional than those in the United States, where gays, lesbian, and queers often present themselves as an interest group asking for acknowledgement or accommodation from the state. On the whole, an informative read with a serious bibliography for those who want to investigate things further.

[Marina Hernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introduction to the nuances of leftist governments in Latin America. Gómez-Barris reminds us that economic policy is not an end-all to inequality. Highly recommend this book, especially to create a list of artists, musicians, and filmmakers to check out! The book is written for all audiences, meaning the language is simple and straightforward rather than unnecessarily complex and "academic."

[Kandace · Rating 4 out of 5]

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