Radical Intimacy by Sophie K Rosa
Sophie K Rosa's groundbreaking manifesto Radical Intimacy invites us into a politically emancipatory conceptualisation of intimacy beyond capitalism and heteronormativity
What does it mean to build meaningful and collective intimacy and connection under the confines of capitalism? Sophie K Rosa’s Radical Intimacy rallies us to imagine these possibilities, primarily in the context of the UK, tracing historical and current examples of resistance against the individualisation of our personal lives. Radical Intimacy is not a blueprint of what radical intimacy should be. Rather, radicalism is used in terms of political radicalism, centring a feminist, abolitionist politics in both our political action and analysis of intimacy.
The book expertly details how and why capitalism has permeated our intimate lives, with familiar realms of intimacy used as helpful lenses to examine these dynamics. Self-care, family, home, romantic love and sex, friendship, and death have historically been collective spheres, argues Rosa. But from life to death, possibilities of communality – and therefore political transformation – have been systematically reduced by capitalism, which individualises, commoditises and dictates the very intricacies of our personal lives.
Rosa invites us to intentionally expand our political imagination beyond the commodification of self-care, supremacy of heteronormativity and patriarchy, the atomised units of the nuclear family, and the individualisation of private housing. Radical Intimacy is a grounding, hopeful work that explores how we can build intimacy in abundance and richness – a reminder for people and political movements feeling the alienation and weight of capitalism that collective, radical, and profound alternatives are possible.
