A profound guide to existing on your own terms, the first trade book from renowned intersectional feminist scholar Sara Ahmed
We have to keep saying it because they keep doing it.
Do colleagues roll their eyes in a meeting when you use words like sexism or racism? Do you refuse to laugh at jokes that aren't funny? Have you been called divisive for pointing out a division? Then you are a feminist killjoy, and this handbook is for you.
The term killjoy has been used to dismiss feminism by claiming that it causes misery. But by naming ourselves feminist killjoys, we recover a feminist history, turning it into a source of strength as well as an inspiration.
Drawing on her own stories and those of others, especially Black and brown feminists and queer thinkers, Sara Ahmed combines depth of thought with honesty and intimacy. The Feminist Killjoy Handbook unpicks the lies our culture tells us and provides a form of solidarity and companionship that can be returned to over a lifetime.
About the Author
Sara Ahmed is an independent feminist scholar of colour. She worked as a feminist academic for over twenty years before she resigned in protest at the failure of her university to deal with the problem of sexual harassment. She has published ten books, including Living a Feminist Life, described by Bitch as 'not just an instant classic but an essential read for intersectional feminists'.
Industry Reviews
A deliberate intervention written in direct and accessible prose, building and nurturing the community it addresses...at a time when social change is urgently needed, The Feminist Killjoy Handbook provides sharp and usable tools for readers who have been made to feel isolated, insignificant and difficult. It is a generous offering from an important theorist, and highly recommended -- Carol Ballantine * Irish Times *
The pioneering theorist Sara Ahmed's The Feminist Killjoy Handbook ... subverts guidebooks wonderfully * New Statesman *
Odd and exciting to let out a shout as one reads a book of theory, theory written for and about the ordinary outrages that demand a feminist response. This book releases a sound that emerges from the full diaphragm, a life force held in check for too long. Ahmed moves from scene to scene with clarity, rage, and joy, building through each refrain to mark the brutal violence of everyday encounters and to show us what a life-affirming response can be. Ahmed thinks in the middle of rage, never letting go of the possibility of joyful resistance, writing, turning over what she just wrote, showing how "obstinacy" is one form for the desire to survive. And yet, throughout, the humility of this brilliant feminist thinker shines through. This book is a great gift, enormously important for overcoming this vicious trans/feminist divide, showing how anti-racism and the struggle for disability rights is central to feminist and queer thinking and politics -- Judith Butler
Full of memorable zingers ... Ahmed has a rare power for naming what many of us know to be true: her articulation holds the power of clarity -- Lucy McKeon * Vanity Fair *
In this fervent manifesto, Ahmed brings impressive clarity to a field of study often opaque in the hands of others. Admirers of Maggie Nelson's The Argonauts should take note * Publishers Weekly *
Combines her signature humor-bitingly funny, in this case-with accessible language and theoretical discourse, making this title as appropriate for university courses as it is for self-identified "feminist killjoys," people who point out sexist comments or don't laugh at offensive jokes... This book arms readers with a sense of vital energy, often lost due to burnout, compassion fatigue, and microaggressions. Audiences curious about navigating the intersection between feminism and daily life, intellectualism, poetry, and activism will love this title -- Emily Bowles * Library Journal *
