Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times

Jasbir Puar is hardcore. No one is safe from the wrath of her pen.

Combining theory, metaphor and oodles of concrete examples, Puar shows how certain groups of people are able to assimilate, how others use that selective assimilation as an excuse to consider themselves exceptional, and how the world of torture, terrorism, and its reflection in popular culture and academia sometimes act in tandem to oppress or erase unacceptable populations. The introduction and preface are both theory-heavy (and probably best read until after the rest of the text), but this is overall an engaging read. Of the dozens of scholarly monographs I've read to date, this stands in memory as one of the most passionate, and for monographs (which often run the show more diverse gamut from dry all the way to boring), this is an impressive feat. It doesn't hurt too that Puar's spectrum of resources - Judith Butler, art installments, Foucault, news articles, advertisements, South Park (yup), etc. - keep the writing entertaining even as the information she presents is often shocking, embarrassing, or depressing.

As far as scholarly monographs go, this lady is a rock star. Anyone interested in race and gender and sexuality studies shouldn't ignore this one. show less

My recommendation - unless you're very familiar with cultural/postmodern/postcolonial theory (Deleuze and Guattari, Derrida, Hardt & Negri, Spivak, lots of others) - read the introduction, then skip to the end and read the conclusion. It has a lot of helpful definition-of-terms material that would have made the rest of the text a lot clearer if I'd read it first.

i think i might be stupid

Reviewed here.