Restauration and revolution

Essay on the dialectics of the struggle for homosexual rights

Abstract

The author analyses opinions expressed by the French philosopher Alain Badieu concerning the course and the outcome of ideological struggles led in the 20th century. Unlike Badieu who claims that the century ended with complete defeat of communist ideas, the author claims that the left had some success in the field of culture, in spite of all the loses in economy and politics. This thesis is illustrated by the example of the movement for homosexual rights. According to Badieu, this movement entered history with a revolutionary claim for a general liberation of human sexuality, and ended with the egoistic, petit—bourgeois request for the right to marriage. The author, on the other hand, thinks that the recognition of this second request augments sexual liberties and dynamics in the entire society, which means that the movement has fulfilled its general revolutionary function according Badieu’s own criteria.