Speaking the Unspeakable. bell hooks’ Living Political Discourse

Abstract

Focusing on a historical and critical reading of bell hook’s work, the essay analyzes the feminist problem of the interconnection of sex, race and class in contemporary neoliberal society. hooks’ understanding of the ideological function of mass media highlights the link between representation and social reproduction, which is in turn critical for grasping the tension between the politicization and commodification of identities. On this analytical basis, the "margin” emerges as an epistemic and political stance, which allows us to both understand the polemical function of history and memory and to regard feminism as a politics of articulation.