Posthuman Feminism

by Rosi Braidotti

In a context marked by the virulent return of patriarchal and white supremacist attitudes, a new generation of activists, from the Xenofeminists to Pussy Riot, are continuing the struggle, fighting alongside star feminists like Emma Watson and Scarlett Johansson: these are very feminist times. But how do these and other struggles relate to our contemporary posthuman condition?

In this important new book, Rosi Braidotti examines the implications of the posthuman turn for feminist theory and practice. She defines the posthuman turn as a convergence between post-humanism on the one hand and post-anthropocentrism on the other, and she examines the double impact of these two lines of critical enquiry for contemporary feminist practice. In so doing she develops five theses: that contemporary feminism is neo-materialist and that feminism today is not a humanism; that Anthropos has been de-centered and that non-human life, Zoe, is now the ruling concept; and that, as a result of these shifts of perspective, today sexuality can be defined as a force beyond, beneath and after gender. The book ends with a plea for joyful political resistance, calling for embedded and embodied cartographies of the new power relations that are emerging from the current geo-political order.

This bold new text by a leading feminist philosopher will be of great interest to students and scholars throughout the humanities and social sciences.

Genres: Feminism, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Theory, Research, Politics, Gender Studies

327 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2021

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a useful book in that it provides an overview of many feminist and intersectional traditions that can be understood as precursors to posthumanism or simply as being the core of posthumanist theory. I certainly agree with a lot of this, and it’s useful to have it spelt out, especially since many versions of posthumanism bizarrely focus only on male authors, and people often upon hearing the word “posthuman” assume it’s about denying people humanity. However it gets a bit repetitive, and I kept waiting for the next chapter to be the “so here’s what posthuman feminism will be” or “here’s my take on it”, but instead it felt like a giant lit.review. It also left out some stuff - there’s less on technology than I’d have liked but I suppose that’s because I research technology and Braidotti doesn’t specifically. I also think she has misunderstood or maybe not read Dawkin’s Selfish Gene - it’s not anthropocentric, his whole point is to view evolution from the point of view of the individual gene, not the human, and that because we are these conglomerates of genes rather than individual humanist subjects we are fundamentally altruistic, a collective. She repeats some of her earlier arguments about affirmative ethics, connecting them very specifically to feminism. Definitely some quotable things I’ll be using here though.

[Emilia Pequeño · Rating 4 out of 5]

muy buen libro desde una revisión critica de los feminismos humanistas y la necesidad de pensar de nuevas maneras en el contexto de la convergencia posthumana y la crisis planetaria que atravesamos.

[Lenno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I can’t put words on it how it changed my perception on certain aspects of life and the philosophical basis. A must read if you’re keen towards the posthumanist ideas and looking to find analysis regarding the problem of anthrophocene and the flawed basis of the liberal humanist understanding of the word and the man

[Natàlia Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

No l’he llegit sencer, només els capítols i apartats sobre la maternitat, però m’ha servit per endinsar-me en aquest plantejament. Com que, al cap i a la fi, el feminisme és un tema molt ampli, Braidotti intenta tocar molts punts i això fa que no acabi d’apronfundir-hi. Igualment, també està bé que et planti la llavor d’una reflexió i que tu la desenvolupis. Potser m’ha faltat que, en comptes de fer tantes crítiques, també estableixi, en aquest cas, com ha de ser la maternitat o vies i accions per esdevenir feministes posthumanes.

Deixo per aquí una frase: «La feminista neoliberal cavalca aquesta onada hiperindividualista i està disposada a acceptar que el preu de la seva llibertat individual és establir un nou sistema de relacions laborals racialitzades i estratificades per classes que fa que altres dones hagin d’assumir les tasques domèstiques i de cura».

[Molsa Roja(s) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un dels llibres més avorrits i repetitius que he llegit mai. Un llibre en què cada paràgraf cita a dos, tres o quatre autors diferents i que, en aquest caos, és incapaç de transmetre cap idea. Són 300 pàgines de bibliografia, perquè si una cosa queda clara és que Braidotti sap llegir. Ara, pensa per si mateixa? És una mica un compendi sobre feminisme, però dut a terme penosament. La paraula queer hi apareix un mínim de 200 vegades, però no la defineix en cap moment. Desitjava que m'agradés, però no està a l'alçada: sincerament, no pots pretendre resumir 50 anys de feminisme en 300 pàgines i sortir-ne bé.

[Margaryta · Rating 3 out of 5]

The repetitiveness began getting to me at one point as the text started to feel much more like about enforcing the idea of a speculative future than trying to draw at least the barest of outlines for this future. I assume that Braidotti's writing style is just reminiscent of the academic book review, which is was also my thought about the last book, except I felt like I pulled out more concrete thoughts from Posthuman Knowledge that were actually by Braidotti, rather than other texts and authors she was quoting.

[Paz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buen y entretenido compendio de las corrientes que alimentan al feminismo posthumano. No puedo dejar de nombrar la inexplicable decisión de la editorial de no incluir una bibliografía. En cambio, agregaron un índice incompleto que poco aporta :/

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, a thoughtful, weighty book that merges posthuman theory with feminism. A lot to chew on!

[Zeena Kalina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential reading. Braidotti gives a posthumanist extention to feminist thought. Comprehensive, suggestive, magnificently written. Scholarship at its best.

[Vilma Pettersson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Asså my bad egentligen som läser en bok som är typ kurslitteratur? men väldigt repetitiv, tröttnade rätt lätt

[Ana Álvarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rebueno. No lo empecé con mucho entusiasmo pero me terminó convenciendo, sobre todo el apartado sobre literatura.