Trans Femme Futures: Abolitionist Ethics for Transfeminist Worlds

by Nat Raha, Mijke van Der Drift

‘A brilliant, useful, and immensely moving book that deals a critical blow to the epistemic austerity of our times’—Jordy Rosenberg, author of Confessions of the Fox

‘Astute and hopeful ... Offering up an abolitionist “transfeminist love-politics” as a practical antidote to the suffocating neoliberal world order, the book is a breath of fresh air’—H.L.T. Quan, author of Become Ungovernable

‘What we need at this moment is a powerful, steadfast commitment to liberation. And this book is it’—Marquis Bey, author of Black Trans Feminism

‘Beautiful and necessary’—Trish Salah

‘Femme’ describes a constellation of queer, gendered expressions that uproot expectations of what it means to be feminine. Building upon experiences of transformation, belonging and harm, this book offers transfeminist contributions to movements for collective liberation.

Trans Femme Futures envisions the future through everyday actions that revolutionise all of our lives. Nat Raha and Mijke van der Drift discuss struggles around trans healthcare, the need for collectives rather than institutions, the importance of mutual care, and transfeminism as abolition.

The authors show how social change can be achieved through transformative practices that allow queer life to thrive in a time of climate, health, political and economic crises.

Nat Raha is a poet, and lecturer at Glasgow School of Art. She contributed to the collection Transgender Marxism. She has authored four books of poetry, numerous journal articles, and her writing has been translated into eight languages. Mijke van der Drift is tutor at the Royal College of Art, London. Mijke’s work on ethics has appeared in various formats in journals, performances, and sound pieces. Together, Nat and Mijke co-edit Radical Transfeminism zine.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Queer, Transgender, LGBT, Essays, Gender Studies

256 pages, Paperback

Published November 20, 2024

Reviews

[An · Rating 3 out of 5]

M'ha decebut una mica i li posaria menys estrelles, però em sento com malament fent-ho.

Per començar per la part que m'ha agradat, la caracterització del liberalisme trans és profunda, la comparteixo i també comparteixo la conseqüència que se'n deriva: una pràctica crítica amb la lluita trans institucional assenyalant la seva incapacitat per canviar l'origen de la violència que vivim. Els apunts sobre les dificultats internes organitzatives també estan molt bé.

Dit això, l'aproximació ètica (en lloc de política) -definida com la creació de nous mons mitjançant les pràctiques comunitàries- em sembla que ignora que les formes d'organitzar-nos no venen definides per motius ètics, sinó exigides per la pròpia organització social. M'explico, la caracterització de la "societat" que fan lis autoris, és la d'una rapsòdia d'estructures opressives determinades per la nostra posicionabilitat. No queda mai clar quina relació hi ha entre el sistema colonial, patriarcal, cisnormatiu, capacitista, capitalista... Justament, per aquesta indeterminació, l'ètica passa a ser un espai d'obertura comunitària "for everybody" on la mateixa obertura impossibilita definir el subjecte de canvi. I a més, el canvi, acaba sent el canvi micropolític i la idealització de la reproducció social comunitària. Que siguin les nostres comunitats les que contribueixin a reproduir-nos socialment, no evita que en fer-ho, es deixin de reproduir les relacions socials capitalistes. I com es pot organitzar formes de reproducció social contra el capitalisme? Amb la POLÍTICA! no amb l'ètica. O sigui, amb la política entesa com el control conscient del metabolisme social per part de la classe revolucionària. Si s'abandona la política em sembla que les possibilitats revolucionàries queden petites, petites, quasi tant, com petites són les possibilitats revolucionàries de les institucions que es critiquen al principi.

aix no sé, potser m'estic passant, però em frustra, per lo molt que comparteixo les maneres de pensar i lo poc qur comparteixo les perspectives de què fer.

sigui com sigui, futurs petons transfemenins

[Er Yáñez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't say I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The writing was quite full for some things that could've been said differently or at least in a manner much less reiterative. Weird decisions on what to give explanations for or what to brush through for making other points. While parts of it were interesting, mostly those where the personal experience worked as a development of what the theory was walking towards, I think the book rarely said something that really pushed the idea that the title gives. It's good argumentation for collective action, care and so on but it was harder to grasp how that gave a broader new meaning to the idea of the femme. To me it was more of a book on care and collective trans practices than a femme experience as theory/praxis in itself. Got in expecting something different more akin to a proposal but I don't say no to the transformative power this read could have for someone looking more for a surface level discussion on these topics...even if the zig-zaggy language may make the entry level harder.

[Ailey | Bisexual Bookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trans Femme Futures is a dense, lyrical work of theory that argues trans liberation will free all of us—cis, trans, and everyone beyond and between—from the weight of gendered oppression. Raha and van Der Drift are not interested in fitting transness into institutional boxes; instead, they encourage readers to imagine ways of being trans beyond labels, assimilation, or state recognition. This is a book that resists easy definitions, asking us to sit with complexity and contradiction rather than seek quick resolutions.

Central to the text is femmeness as an anti-institutional stance. For the authors, femininity is not simply the opposite of masculinity but a practice of openness, curiosity, generosity, and solidarity. They frame femme not as perfection or assimilation into narrow ideals, but as a refusal of disposability and an embrace of collective life—even when that life is messy, imperfect, or fraught. In this framing, femme becomes a radical ethic that resists flattening, embraces difference, and builds community outside of institutional control.

The heart of the book lies in its meditation on collective care as abolitionist practice. Raha and van Der Drift argue that the individualistic “rights” framework offered by institutions is never enough, because it still forces people to conform to oppressive norms. Instead, they call for forms of care rooted in solidarity, mutuality, and interdependence—whether that looks like harm reduction, chosen family, or community accountability. Their critique of medical and legal institutions is sharp, showing how systems designed to “grant rights” often work to regulate, pathologize, or abandon the very people they claim to serve.

This book is intellectually rigorous and politically urgent, but also deliberately difficult. The prose is theoretical and sometimes slippery, requiring patience and re-reading. While the ideas here are vital—particularly for those invested in abolition, trans futures, or feminist theory—I found consuming them unpleasant at times, largely because terms were not always clearly explained. For that reason, I’d primarily recommend Trans Femme Futures to academic readers or those already familiar with the language of critical theory. For those willing to wade through its density, however, the book offers a powerful vision: that trans femme futures are not distant dreams, but already unfolding in the ways we learn to care, resist, and survive together.

📖 Read this if you love: visionary trans writing, abolitionist imagination, and works by Kai Cheng Thom, Travis Alabanza, and Shira Hassan.

🔑 Key Themes: Collective Care & Interdependence, Trans Femme Joy & Survival, Abolition & Solidarity, Imagining Futures Beyond the State.

Content / Trigger Warnings: Pandemic (minor), Transphobia (minor), Suicide (minor), Medical Content (minor), Medical Trauma (minor).

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really torn on this book, a friction I think the authors would appreciate. On one hand it is a truly insightful work that develops abolitionist, trans, and feminist theory in some desperately needed and useful ways. On the other hand, even as an academic who regularly reads dense theoretical work, this book is difficult and at times absolutely inaccessible in its writing style and organization. Sentences are long and overflowing with commas, at times seeming grammatically incorrect or nonsensical. I struggle with rating this, because I think the content is so valuable and amazing, but the form is unapproachable and alienating. I want to give it a 3.5 if I could, but I'm rounding up to 4.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. Very thought provoking and shaping. Definitely a bit more academic language and hard to always follow compared to my usual comfort zone, but it was a good challenge.

[Julia Martinez De Velasco · Rating 4 out of 5]

le pondría 3 y media algunas cosas xulas pero x dios porque la gente de estudios de género escribe así….. gender studies brain rot