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heavenlyspit's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
vverbatim7's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
amkclaes's review against another edition
3.0
This was a really middling analysis of the body in late capitalist neoliberal society - mostly American society.
The transphobia was latent and in some ways arguable, but present it was, and unnecessary at that - could have been my French translation (I had learned of this author from my professor at university in France, who incidentally wrote the preface of this French translation, and so I assumed the author was French... she is not) - but just to mention a tip of an iceberg, the wording of "men, women, and trans people" could have been retooled I feel, it's just a bit lazy for someone claiming to be a feminist scholar in 2020 in my opinion
But honestly as a whole the works lacked a lot of rigor, they were more like musings than real analysis, and made many affirmations without any citations or evidence even though they weren't really given.. for example she claims that "most children that are born today are neither wanted nor foreseen" - and in the next sentence goes onto explain how in countries with weak social security, children can be wanted for their function as insurance. Neither proposition is cited, and they are contradictory! These types of claims litter the work and weaken it.
The most I got from this was a really solid bibliography that I'm excited to dig into
And, honestly, I think as a sketch / debate starter on a lot of complex issues it's not a bad jumping off point. And as a rule if a book challenges me on some issues (IVF, in this one - I thought the class and race based analysis was illuminating and again put me on the path to some other readings I'm excited about, or even the analysis of body discipline in space) I feel like it's a decent work. It's also accessible in my opinion for how entrenched it is in complex, elite crit theory, so I give it points for that.
The transphobia was latent and in some ways arguable, but present it was, and unnecessary at that - could have been my French translation (I had learned of this author from my professor at university in France, who incidentally wrote the preface of this French translation, and so I assumed the author was French... she is not) - but just to mention a tip of an iceberg, the wording of "men, women, and trans people" could have been retooled I feel, it's just a bit lazy for someone claiming to be a feminist scholar in 2020 in my opinion
But honestly as a whole the works lacked a lot of rigor, they were more like musings than real analysis, and made many affirmations without any citations or evidence even though they weren't really given.. for example she claims that "most children that are born today are neither wanted nor foreseen" - and in the next sentence goes onto explain how in countries with weak social security, children can be wanted for their function as insurance. Neither proposition is cited, and they are contradictory! These types of claims litter the work and weaken it.
The most I got from this was a really solid bibliography that I'm excited to dig into
And, honestly, I think as a sketch / debate starter on a lot of complex issues it's not a bad jumping off point. And as a rule if a book challenges me on some issues (IVF, in this one - I thought the class and race based analysis was illuminating and again put me on the path to some other readings I'm excited about, or even the analysis of body discipline in space) I feel like it's a decent work. It's also accessible in my opinion for how entrenched it is in complex, elite crit theory, so I give it points for that.
garberdog's review against another edition
3.0
Easily the most disappointing of Federici’s usually excellent work I’ve read. This book is very vaguely organized around the theme of “body politics,” but it’s often unclear what Federici means by this or what’s at stake for her.
As with her other recent work, she evinces a strange and poorly reasoned technophobia. She valorizes the body and the natural world against technology, to the point where she says some almost transphobic things and condemns modern medicine. Surely there is a difference between accurately acknowledging the complicity of modern medicine and technology with capitalism and oppression and veering off into a total rejection of modernity.
Also out of place is a weird anti-surrogacy essay that is at odds with Federici’s own much more nuanced understanding of sex work politics. Surely, if sex workers can be understood as complex political agents capable of advocating for their own interests, the same can be said of surrogates. Again, there is a valorization of “natural” pregnancy and maternity against the supposedly “unnatural” character of surrogacy.
There are some truly great essays in this book that save it from being a total loss. But this is a far cry from “Caliban and the Witch” or “Revolution at Point Zero.”
As with her other recent work, she evinces a strange and poorly reasoned technophobia. She valorizes the body and the natural world against technology, to the point where she says some almost transphobic things and condemns modern medicine. Surely there is a difference between accurately acknowledging the complicity of modern medicine and technology with capitalism and oppression and veering off into a total rejection of modernity.
Also out of place is a weird anti-surrogacy essay that is at odds with Federici’s own much more nuanced understanding of sex work politics. Surely, if sex workers can be understood as complex political agents capable of advocating for their own interests, the same can be said of surrogates. Again, there is a valorization of “natural” pregnancy and maternity against the supposedly “unnatural” character of surrogacy.
There are some truly great essays in this book that save it from being a total loss. But this is a far cry from “Caliban and the Witch” or “Revolution at Point Zero.”
gkahan's review against another edition
3.0
a quality materialist analysis that reaffirms some of the still pressing class-based critiques of second wave feminism, but mixed with severe misunderstandings of Butlerian notions of performativity. for the most part, empowering—especially in regard to the impact of current material conditions on the mind and body.
geraldine97's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
briarrrose's review against another edition
5.0
The afterword of the book (“On Joyful Militancy”) just reached in and grabbed my radically left political heart and gave it a bloody big squeeze. What an excellent book.
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