Reviews of Habibi Funk 031, Kayatibu, and The Good Ones
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The prisoners of gender
CAL MCBRIDE recommends an accessible and erudite study that aims to link the struggle for gender rights with the wider critique of neoliberal capitalism
OPPOSITES COLLIDE: Protest in Oxford where Professor Kathleen Stock is due to speak at the the Oxford Union, May 30 2023
SIMON DUFF relishes the cross contamination of Damien Hirst’s greatest hits by street artists from France and the US
In view of the grooming gangs inquiry, SIMON PARSONS feels the relevance of this powerful examination of trauma suffered at Medomsley Youth Detention Centre
JOHN GREEN doubts the motivations of a US war photographer who never questions why, or for whom, she is producing images of imperialist conflict
MARIA DUARTE reviews Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Hedda, The Mastermind, and Regretting You
TONY CONWAY welcomes a thrilling and concise history of Hope not Hate, that is also a manual full of tactical advice
PAUL DONOVAN welcomes an inspiring account of living with deafness that has important lessons for the treatment of deaf people in today’s UK
Who’s Afraid of Gender
Judith Butler
Allen Lane, £25
ANYONE dipping even the most tentative toe into the currently tempestuous waters of gender discourse won’t be able to venture too far without encountering the name Judith Butler.
Works like Gender Trouble and Bodies That Matter have become key texts in global gender studies, even as many of their theories have been misinterpreted, or just plain misunderstood over the years. That being so, it’s useful that rather than taking another deep dive into the intricacies of gender-oriented cultural philosophy, this book instead confronts head-on the current and heated so-called culture war that has sprung up in public discourse around gender.
Butler has a not wholly undeserved reputation for writing in dense academese but they’ve thankfully reined in that tendency for the most part here to produce a largely reader-friendly text.
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WILL PODMORE welcomes the case put by a feminist, disentangling the abusive rhetoric of the trans rights debate
CAILEAN MCBRIDE welcomes a refreshing and timely study of the way officialdom creates structures that exclude LGBT+ rights and humanity
MARJORIE MAYO recommends a punchy demonstration of the the way class politics are being fragmented by the right
From prostitution to surrogacy, access to women’s bodies can be bought for a fee. LYNNE WALSH reports from a conference exploring the mounting crisis in which women are increasingly seen as products to be consumed