Sara Ahmed's "The Feminist Killjoy Handbook" explores the concept of the 'killjoy'—someone who challenges societal norms and expectations, often at the cost of social acceptance. The book delves into the author's personal experiences and intellectual journey, examining the structuring principles of her previous work. Ahmed analyzes the challenges faced by those who disrupt the status quo, particularly in academic and institutional settings. The book also addresses the complexities of cancel culture and the importance of killjoy solidarity in various social movements. Ultimately, it's a call for critical engagement and a refusal to compromise on justice.
Published in 1925, 'Mrs. Dalloway' by Virginia Woolf explores the lives of its characters over a single day in post-World War I London. The novel centers around Clarissa Dalloway, an upper-class housewife, as she prepares to host a party. Her day is punctuated by a visit from Peter Walsh, an old suitor, and her reflections on her past choices. The narrative also follows Septimus Warren Smith, a veteran struggling with shell shock and mental illness, whose story parallels and contrasts with Clarissa's. The novel delves into themes of time, identity, social class, and the psychological impacts of war. Woolf's stream-of-consciousness style provides a deep insight into the characters' inner lives, highlighting the complexities of human experience and the societal norms of the time[1][3][5].
Sara Ahmed's "The Cultural Politics of Emotion" is a seminal work in feminist theory that explores the intricate relationship between emotions, power dynamics, and social justice. Ahmed challenges traditional understandings of emotions as purely personal experiences, arguing instead that they are deeply embedded in cultural and political contexts. The book examines how emotions are used to shape social relations, maintain power structures, and produce inequalities. Ahmed's analysis delves into concepts like fear, disgust, shame, and love, demonstrating how these emotions are deployed to create and reinforce social hierarchies. Ultimately, the book offers a powerful critique of dominant power structures and provides a framework for understanding and challenging emotional injustices.
In 'Bad Feminist,' Roxane Gay presents a collection of essays that delve into various aspects of feminism, culture, and personal identity. She critiques the concept of 'essential feminism,' which she argues is exclusive and does not account for the diverse experiences of women, particularly those of color and from other marginalized groups. Gay's essays cover a wide range of topics, including media critiques of films and TV shows, personal narratives, and critical analyses of contemporary issues such as reproductive rights and racial justice. The book emphasizes the importance of intersectionality and the need for a more inclusive and nuanced understanding of feminism, embracing the idea that being a 'bad feminist' is better than not being a feminist at all.
Audre Lorde's "Sister Outsider" is a collection of essays and speeches that explore themes of race, gender, class, and sexuality. Lorde's writing is characterized by its powerful and personal voice, challenging readers to confront their own biases and prejudices. The essays cover a wide range of topics, from the experiences of Black women in America to the importance of self-love and self-acceptance. Lorde's work has had a profound impact on feminist and anti-racist movements, inspiring generations of activists and scholars. Her legacy continues to shape conversations about social justice and intersectionality.
I sort of feel like this guest needs no introduction, but that may be because, for me, she’s such a powerful influence on thinking around affect, obviously, but also feminist politics, anticolonial resistance, the consequences of representation and misrepresentation. For people that don’t know who she is, Sara Ahmed is the author of many widely read texts, from Queer Phenomenology, to Living a Feminist Life and The Cultural Politics of Emotion, to What’s the Use? On the Uses of Use, to now, most recently, The Feminist Killjoy Handbook: The Radical Potential of Getting in the Way.
The new book is an interesting experiment in an author thinking back through her work and theorizing the particular structuring principles that guided it, the core values, concepts and characteristic expressions that give it form.
There is a fair bit of conversation in this interview about terms, specifically the term “kill,” for example, in “killjoy”--the extremity of the word and the kind of work that does. I also ask Ahmed about the inclusion of personal reflection in The Feminist Killjoy Handbook and we talk about the false distinction that gets made between the practice of “theory” and the lived experience of the theorist.
I appreciated how open Sara was about her foundational sense of the value of killjoy solidarity, even as it is becoming frighteningly clear that this solidarity is required for all the wrong reasons: because rights are being rolled back, because oppression is intensifying and the vindictive forces of sexism and racism are differently emboldened today.
There is even a discussion, here, of this seemingly novel, but actually quite old, concept of “cancel culture.” Ahmed explains why she is a “Roxane Gay superfan,” where she thinks the attacks on wokeness are coming from, and how they can be countered.
I was most heartened maybe by her expression of killjoy solidarity with the movements for trans lives and for alleviation of the climate crisis. These are seemingly very different struggles, but in both instances there is a normative power to business as usual that is making life very dangerous for people at the margins.
Pretty Heady Stuff 
