Afterword: The Unkillable Antisocial Thesis in Queer Theory

This Afterword takes stock of the antisocial thesis by reconsidering the significance of Jean Laplanche's influence on Leo Bersani's work. Emphasizing the distinctness of Laplanche's theory of sexuality, the essay differentiates among four positions in the antisocial thesis debate: Bersani's, Lee Edelman's, José Muñoz's, and Dean's own. Contending that the death drive does not exist as such, Dean argues that negation involves more than negativity and therefore should be understood not merely as destructive but also as creative. Discriminating among claims that have tended to become conflated, the essay connects Bersani's version of the antisocial thesis to his account of aesthetic subjectivity.