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dliterate's review
4.0
I was first introduced to the work of Sudanese-Australian Yassmin Abdel-Magied when she was living and working as a political/cultural commentator (amongst other things) in Australia. I read her work online; read her autobiography, 'Yassmin's Story: Who Do You Think I Am?', and also followed her on social media before and after the (completely wild and unnecessary) media uproar that ultimately led to her deciding to leave Australia for the UK. I mention this not to brag (lol), but because it provides some important context for this review.
'Talking about a Revolution' engages with the idea that the personal is political, combining stories from Yassmin's own life as a young Muslim girl and woman who just so happened to challenge a lot of notions about what it means to be someone with those identifiers with discussions of political organising, the role of social media in providing (and destroying) opportunities for communication, what life is like after being 'cancelled' by the most vocal parts of a country, and a range of other topics relevant topics.
If you're new to Abdel-Magied, or at least don't know much about her history, then this is going to be a much fresher read (or listen, in my case) for you than it was for me. Already having some background knowledge as I did, a lot of the first half of this book was touching on themes that had already been explored in her autobiography. Despite enjoying her narration of the audiobook, I did find myself fading in and out at times, as things I already knew about were being rehashed in varying degrees of detail. This became less of an issue for me post-move to the UK, though.
I do think there's more done to highlight issues that exist rather than necessarily proposing ways to address/fix those issues, so I'd recommend this as an entry-point into broader discussions of political activism rather than an end-point. The blend of the personal and political makes for an engaging read, which also helps in introducing some more political and cultural topics that could be picked up and further expanded upon in some more dense follow-up reading.
'Talking about a Revolution' engages with the idea that the personal is political, combining stories from Yassmin's own life as a young Muslim girl and woman who just so happened to challenge a lot of notions about what it means to be someone with those identifiers with discussions of political organising, the role of social media in providing (and destroying) opportunities for communication, what life is like after being 'cancelled' by the most vocal parts of a country, and a range of other topics relevant topics.
If you're new to Abdel-Magied, or at least don't know much about her history, then this is going to be a much fresher read (or listen, in my case) for you than it was for me. Already having some background knowledge as I did, a lot of the first half of this book was touching on themes that had already been explored in her autobiography. Despite enjoying her narration of the audiobook, I did find myself fading in and out at times, as things I already knew about were being rehashed in varying degrees of detail. This became less of an issue for me post-move to the UK, though.
I do think there's more done to highlight issues that exist rather than necessarily proposing ways to address/fix those issues, so I'd recommend this as an entry-point into broader discussions of political activism rather than an end-point. The blend of the personal and political makes for an engaging read, which also helps in introducing some more political and cultural topics that could be picked up and further expanded upon in some more dense follow-up reading.
sarah_thornback's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
This collection of Yassmin Abdel-Magied’s work is an important text. Within 5 minutes of reading I texted my boomer white dad telling him he needed to track this book down at the library and read it because I knew not only would he get a lot out of it and be challenged, I knew he would love it.
theunrealerin's review
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
A challenging and diverse collection, at times highly personal, at others asking universal questions.
nixiethepixie's review
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Listened as an audiobook read by the author - a solid collection of essays from across Abdel-Magied's career. Sections separated from the person into system/structure. I really enjoyed Empowerment vs. Power.
stanro's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
3.5
Australians may remember Yassmin Abdul-Magied being hounded from this country by the torrent of abuse directed towards her when she dared on Anzac Day in 2017 to critique the sacred “Lest we forget” by adding to the phrase a list of peoples and causes we don’t usually think of in that context “(Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine …)”. A pity this was written before the Ben Roberts-Smith issues reached their present point.
I wanted to support her and I wanted to see what she had to say. As an old leftie, I found her politics unrevelatory, until she got to crypto-currency and its potential for democratic social change by breaking down the current economic model.
In her essay on her thoughts about keeping or relinquishing her Australian citizenship, she develops a number of well-explained points regarding citizenship and power.
“On Abolition” - about dismantling the carceral system (imprisonment and punishment) - is a powerful and interesting essay about how such a system permeates so much of what we do and how we think - beyond crime and punishment into our workplace and personal relations. Her “Islamic Liberation Theology demands the dismantling of all oppressive systems…” she tells us.
In “An Engineering Perspective,” Abdul-Magied applies her professional engineering knowledge to the South Australian power generation elimination occurrence of 2016 and explains why this was triggered by a massive series weather event combined with a lack of knowledge of safety systems within the power grid and a consequential switching off of sources of supply. Her purpose here is to defend sustainable electricity generation from the attacks made upon it in the aftermath of these events. To my surprise, she does not provide postscript comment on Elon Musk’s provision to South Australia of a giant battery system in 2017 and what its impact would be.