To Mend the World: Women Reflect on 9/11

by Marjorie Agosín (Editor/Contributor), Betty Jean Craige (Editor), Julia Alvarez (Contributor)

As we watched the horrors wrought on September 11, 2001, unfold, the question on our lips was "Why?" A year after the attack on the United States, women of varied ethnic and religious backgrounds examine this question. Many of these writers grew up outside of the U.S. and bring a world perspective to their responses. Some are U.S.–born but have been shaped by multi-cultural experiences. Consequently, the collection creates a unique mirror that reflects the U.S. from both inside and out, revealing the clash between the economically driven force of globalization embodied by the U.S. and the stateless, transnational terrorist organization that feeds on religious fundamentalism, poverty, and hatred of the United States. It is a multi-faceted image that is created: Margaret Randall posits that "the bully stance is eminently male," and that "feminists, able to deconstruct power, have the potential for developing new grids in a battle that now assumes life and death proportions." Carol Dine speaks of firefighters, the head of Cantor Fitzgerald, and House Majority Leader Dick Armey breaking down in front of the media. "These are men rocked to their core, men no longer able to hide inside their uniforms or three-piece suits, compelled to reveal that they are vulnerable. . . . And I am forced to consider the contradictions of what it means to be male." Claudia Bernhardi states that "no political explanation, any argument ever, could or would satisfy the logic of destruction." What these writers share is the desire to open a world dialogue between cultures, between sexes, so we can prevent anything like the events of 9/11 from happening again anywhere in the world.

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2002

About the author

Marjorie Agosín was born in Maryland and raised in Chile. She and her parents, Moises and Frida Agosín, moved to the United States due to the overthrow of the Chilean government by General Pinochet's military coup. Coming from a South American country and being Jewish, Agosín's writings demonstrate a unique blending of these cultures.

Agosín is well known as a poet, critic, and human activist. She is also a well-known spokesperson for the plight and priorities of women in Third World countries. Her deep social concerns and accomplishments have earned her many awards and recognitions, and she has gained an international reputation among contemporary women of color.

Agosín, a passionate writer, has received critical acclaim for her poetry collections, her close reflections on her parents and family, and her multi-layered stories. Within every novel, story, or poem, she captures the very essence of Jewish women at their best. Agosín's works reveal the experiences of pain and anguish of Jewish refugees. She writes about the Holocaust as well as anti-Semitic events that occurred in her native land.

Agosín has many fascinating works and is recognized in both North and South America as one of the most versatile and provocative Latin American writers. Agosín became a writer to make a difference: "I wanted to change the world through peace and beauty," she said. Today she is not only a writer, but also a Spanish professor at Wellesley College.