What's the Use?: On the Uses of Use

by Sara Ahmed

In What’s the Use? Sara Ahmed continues the work she began in The Promise of Happiness and Willful Subjects by taking up a single word—in this case, use —and following it around. She shows how use became associated with life and strength in nineteenth-century biological and social thought and considers how utilitarianism offered a set of educational techniques for shaping individuals by directing them toward useful ends. Ahmed also explores how spaces become restricted to some uses and users, with specific reference to universities. She notes, however, the potential for queer use : how things can be used in ways that were not intended or by those for whom they were not intended. Ahmed posits queer use as a way of reanimating the project of diversity work as the ordinary and painstaking task of opening up institutions to those who have historically been excluded.

Genres: Nonfiction, Theory, Philosophy, Academic, Feminism, Queer, Art

296 pages, Paperback

First published October 25, 2019

About the author

Sara Ahmed is an independent queer feminist scholar of colour. Her work is concerned with how power is experienced and challenged in everyday life and institutional cultures. Her most recent book is No is Not a Lonely Utterance: The Art and Activism of Complaining which came out with Allen Lane in September 2025, and which is a companion text to The Feminist Killjoy Handbook which was published by Allen Lane in 2023. Previous books include Complaint! (2021), What's The Use? On the Uses of Use (2019), Living a Feminist Life (2017), Willful Subjects (2014), On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life (2012), The Promise of Happiness (2010) and Queer Phenomenology: Orientations Objects, Others all published by Duke University Press. She blogs at feministkilljoys.com and has a newsletter https://feministkilljoys.substack.com/.

Reviews

[Tara Brabazon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong discussion of use and, indeed, uselessness. I was particularly impressed by the engagement with touch, and how touch transforms use.

It is a powerful and sensory book. Evocative and memorable.

[m_n_li · Rating 5 out of 5]

"[...] it is possible for those deemed strangers or foreigners to take up residence in spaces that have been assumed as belonging to others, as being for others to use [...] A history of use is a history of such displacements, many violent--displacements that are often unrecognized because of how things remain occupied. [...] To bring out the queerness of use requires more than an act of affirmation: it requires a world-dismantling effort."

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

“What gives some a route through can be what slows or stops others. Routes become routines. And you can be a misfit given what has become routine. An organization that organizes long meetings without any breaks assumes a body that can be seated without breaks. If you arrive and cannot maintain this position, you do not meet the requirements. If you lay down during the meeting, you would throw the meeting into crisis. A social justice project might require throwing meetings into crisis.” [172]

Another excellent book by Sara Ahmed, this time following the word ‘use’ (and so many derivations – abuse, uselessness, used up, being used, reused, misused). Absolutely fascinating and so frequently relatable (as someone who's spent much time in universities and does 'diversity committee' work). Some important arguments here that aren’t even the main focus (ex. that much of neoliberalism could be connected to a longer utilitarian history – ex. of universities as needing to be ‘useful’). As always, so much thoughtfulness around citation, (re)production, and what we do with inheritances.

Content warnings: discussion of racism, sexism, heterosexism, sexual assault, sexual harassment

[T.J. Jourian · Rating 5 out of 5]

At a time when everything “diversity” is under attack, this book gave me hope in the possibilities of “queer use: how things can be used in ways that were not intended or by those for whom they were not intended” (back cover). In a way it is a call for deinstitutionalizing diversity (or DEI or JEDI or whatever term/acronym makes sense in your context), to take the time to reexamine how we have become “of” the institutions we swore we would transform and rethink how to queer our approaches, collectively.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I'm thinking and reflecting after I read this book:

Maybe the chair and the table don’t need to be used the way society expects, or as they’re designed for, or be seen as useless if they can no longer be used as they were designed. They may still feel like they belong, even if they’re used differently from what society expects. That’s probably a queer use.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

inspiring reflections on the uses of use, written so lucidly and engagingly

[Kathleen Quaintance · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful! what i would give for sara ahmed's mind..

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

jarring to read Ahmed while being on the DEI committee 🙃

5 stars for Chapter 4 and Conclusion; 3 stars for the rest

[Amanda Chiu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah Ahmed always slays and this is no exception. Such a well-written and interesting book especially for those in academia. She is a genius. That’s all.