# José Esteban Muñoz [wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Esteban_Mu%C3%B1oz) (1967–2013) ## Description American theorist of queer theory and performance studies; his concept of disidentification (in *Disidentifications*, 1999) and his theory of queer utopian futurity (in *Cruising Utopia*, 2009) reshaped queer theory's engagement with race, performance, and temporality. He was Professor of Performance Studies at NYU until his death in 2013. ## Key Tags #queer-theory #theorist #disidentification ## Essential Works - [[Cruising Utopia]] (2009) - his central theorization of queerness as a "not yet here" utopian horizon - [Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Esteban_Mu%C3%B1oz) (1999) - foundational theory of disidentification as a survival strategy for queers of color negotiating dominant culture ## Details Trained in performance studies (PhD, Duke); "disidentification" names a survival strategy in which queers of color neither fully identify with nor simply reject dominant culture's representations, but rework them from within. *Cruising Utopia*, written in the long shadow of the AIDS crisis and post-9/11 political retrenchment, argues against a "here and now" pragmatism in queer politics, proposing instead a utopian horizon glimpsed fleetingly in queer performance, art, and everyday gesture. ### Concepts and Theories - [[Queer Theory]] - his theories of disidentification and queer futurity are core contributions to contemporary queer theory ### Creative and Technical Practices %% none yet %% ### Collaborators %% none yet %% ### Institutional Affiliations and Associated Movements - New York University - Professor of Performance Studies, Tisch School of the Arts ## References ### Primary Sources Bibliography Muñoz, José Esteban. *Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics*. University of Minnesota Press, 1999. Muñoz, José Esteban. *Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity*. 10th anniversary ed., NYU Press, 2019. ### Secondary Sources Bibliography ### Cited In - [[Jack Smith]] (230 - Individuals) - his work on Jack Smith's performance and "queer failure" is analyzed in *Cruising Utopia*.