Dreaming of Utopia in a Pragmatic Present: Works by Julio Salgado and Jesús Iñíguez in Conversation with Muñoz's Cruising Utopia

What happens when social actors with bold dreams are caught in a dishearteningly pragmatic present? This paper answers this question by considering theoretical contributions of José Esteban Muñoz in conversation with... [ view full abstract ]

What happens when social actors with bold dreams are caught in a dishearteningly pragmatic present? This paper answers this question by considering theoretical contributions of José Esteban Muñoz in conversation with undocumented Latin@ artists Julio Salgado and Jesús Iñiguez. I engage with the contributions of Muñoz, Salgado, and Iñiguez as the foundation to critically consider two recently-implemented programs of administrative relief: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and California Assembly Bill (AB) 60. These two programs work as an extension of pragmatic U.S. immigration policy that center security, violence and reproducing inequality. Communities, organizers, and artists organize are aware of these limitations and continue to fearlessly and unceasingly fight to transcend such limited forms of administrative relief. Yet, the question remains: is it appropriate to participate in DACA and AB 60 because of the benefits that they offer eligible participants? Additionally, when and where is liberation possible in these forms of administrative relief? Salgado and Iñíguez grapple with these questions in three cultural productions that I discuss in this paper. Muñoz’s Cruising Utopia: The Then and Now of Queer Futurity presents pragmatism and liberation as concepts that may be mutually exclusive. The works by Salgado and Iñiguez deconstruct any potential pragmatism vs. liberation binaries, and in doing so, push us to consider the possibilities of freedom that open up when thinking beyond the binary.