This book brings together a decade of interviews with key feminist academics. Through sensitive and nuanced conversations, Jo Littler brings to life actions, arguments and solutions generated by diverse feminist thinkers on the left.
Beginning as an interview series for the journal Soundings, this collection has since grown into one of the most vibrant, interesting and accessible records of feminist theory and action in recent years. The conversations in Left Feminisms explore the complex relationships between the personal and the political. Academic and activist journeys of the interviewees are interwoven with analysis of social and cultural change and strategies for solidarity.
From discussions of the gendered dynamics of the far right in the US, to sexism and racism in UK academia, to organising against household debt in Argentina, the book offers a range of insights that traverse a broad spectrum of feminist politics in the twenty-first century. Including interviews with Nancy Fraser, Gargi Bhattacharyya, Sheila Rowbotham and Veronica Gago, this collection is an important archive in its own right. It will be indispensable to feminist activists, academics and anyone interested in the history and present of feminism on the left.
Introduction: Speaking of feminism
The fortunes of socialist feminism
Nancy Fraser
We do not have to be vicious, competitive, or managerial
Akwugo Emejulu
Every generation has to make its own women’s movement
Sheila Rowbotham
We want ourselves alive and debt free!
Verónica Gago
Where the fires are
Wendy Brown
Democracy in the making
Lynne Segal
Municipalism and feminism then and now
Hilary Wainwright
Gender, race, class, ecology and peace
Vron Ware
We haven’t got here just on our own. It’s a conversation
Carol Tulloch
Beyond anti-welfarism and feminist social media mud-slinging
Angela McRobbie
It’s not about academic life. That’s what I have to tell you
Gargi Bhattacharyya
Feminism is a project, not an identity
Sylvia Walby
We need to look at how we can build bridges and build solidarity
Finn Mackay
This is a collective history that belongs to all of us
Sophia Siddiqui
Acknowledgements
This inspiring collection of feminist voices across generations and continents reminds us that we build solidarity through, rather than in spite of, our differences.
– Roshi Naidoo, Museums Association
Jo Littler’s conversations over the last decade with 14 feminist academics and activists of different generations, from Argentina to the US and the UK, collected here in Left Feminisms abound with much needed thoughts and hopes to help us live in these dark political times.
– Catherine Hall, Emerita Professor of History, Chair of the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery, UCL
Left feminisms is a much needed exploration and clarification of what a ‘socialist feminist project’ for the 21st century looks like. As Littler powerfully shows, this is a project that looks at capitalist exploitation and sexist oppression as interrelated. The interview format as an act of political archive and engaged theorising might indeed be the best way to convey how the understanding of exploitation and gendered oppression demands that we listen to the voices of feminists from different generations who have experienced first-hand the challenges of practicing ‘feminism from the left’. This is an enjoyable and rewarding read!
– Sara R. Farris, author of In the Name of Women’s Rights. The Rise of Femonationalism, Duke University Press, 2017
This book not only brings together some of the most insightful ‘left feminist’ thinkers and activists of our time but Littler’s interviews urge—and inspire—us to think beyond the destructive impasses and impulses of the present. A most timely and urgent contribution to contemporary feminist dialogues.
– Catherine Rottenberg, author of The Rise of Neoliberal Feminism, Oxford University Press, 2018
This is a very fine collection of interviews, showcasing something of the strength and diversity of contemporary left feminisms. Littler is a particularly astute, perceptive, and well-informed interlocutor, and her interviewees represent some of the most engaging and significant thinkers working on gender today. The text is a joy to read, and I highly recommend it.
– Helen Hester, author of Beyond Explicit: Pornography and the Displacement of Sex, State University of New York Press, 2015
Alive on the page, we hear the humour and detail of entwined personal and political lives. The power of conversations draws readers into the multiple routes of feminist ideas. Layered dimensions of feminist academic lives are delivered through fine-tuned asking, listening and telling. It is a pleasure to unroll projects of enacting feminism/s differently whilst turning the pages of this collection.
– Nirmal Puwar, author of Space Invaders: Race, Gender and Bodies Out of Place, Bloomsbury, 2004
‘Littler’s passion leaps off the page and her interview format is an engaging means of educating readers on the work of some genuinely inspiring figures […] An ideal starting point for any reader keen to learn more about the recent history and present of feminism on the left
— Marin Scarlett, Red Pepper
‘Left Feminisms shows us the importance of archiving feminist debate. The interviewees do not all agree with each other, far from it. But the book shows the vital role of engaged debate to the ongoing process of feminist scholarship and activism. It is a book that can be returned to again and again to try to make sense of the conjuncture, how we got here and how we can move past it’
— Dr Laura Clancy, British Journal of SociologyÂ
‘Littler’s engaging introductory chapter outlines the book’s overarching themes, weaving snippets from her interviews with astute observations on topics that crop up throughout. The book’s aim is not to rouse readers to a particular political cause, but to equip them with an array of different ideas and perspectives. […]Â Left Feminisms is an ideal starting point for any reader looking to explore different strands of socialist-feminist theory and practice, past and present’
—  Rachel Collet, Women’s History Review
