At the close of the Sexual and Economic Justice Colloquium, after a long day of deep discussions about injustice, the participants were led in a creative and light exercise that resembled refrigerator magnet poetry. They were asked to construct “poems” about their vision of sexual and economic justice, in groups, using words that had been prominent in the day’s discussion. They were given index cards with keywords from the day, as well as encouraged to add their own cards with additional keywords from the colloquium. The resultant assemblages interrogated themes such as security and sex, market freedom and sexuality, crisis and capital, revolution and desire. We include the results of this exercise because they give a glimpse—albeit awkward and comical—into what happens when terms usually held so far apart are put together. How do we want safety, security, and sex connected? Is sexual shame necessarily a bad thing? What is the relationship between class shame and sexual shame? How should we confront what Svati Shah called the sense of visceral “ick” that we can encounter from Left movements when they encounter sexuality? What would be characterized as market indecency? The debates held by participants as they constructed their poems gave fascinating insights into how such issues were understood; again, though, we seek forgiveness from actual poets.
Group 1.
Group 2.
Group 3.
Group 4.
