Against White Feminism

Bracing and compassionate... Make room beside Audre Lorde and Angela Davis on your shelves * Chicago Review of Books * A thoughtful and provocative collection calling for a sharper feminism... It is a must-read -- Roxane Gay Against White Feminism is the book I have been waiting for. This landmark work will forever change how we view the feminist movement and our place in it -- Sonia Faleiro, author of 'The Good Girls' What does feminism look like when it centers on Black and Brown women? And when it doesn't hold hands with colonialism? Rafia Zakaria makes a clear case for intersectional feminism that puts power in a different place * Washington Post * Zakaria is a warm-hearted and sharp-eyed writer who brings compassion, intelligence and a steady drumbeat of change to redefining feminism... This book is going to light fires everywhere, so if you are prone to combust, get right the hell out of the way * Lit Hub - Most Anticipated Books of 2021 * A brilliant, bracing, and deeply necessary text. Showing how feminism had systematically centred white women's voices, and excluded others', this is a polemic that couldn't be more urgent in improving feminism as a movement -- Kate Manne, author of 'Down Girl' Lucid and persuasive... Tackling complex philosophical ideas with clarity and insight, Zakaria builds an impeccable case for the need to rebuild feminism from the ground up. Readers will want to heed this clarion call for change * Publishers Weekly * In this searing takedown, Rafia Zakaria expertly puts into words what so many women of colour feel and endure. An exhilarating and brilliantly researched read that doubles up as a long overdue call to action. Unputdownable, required reading for people of all genders, generations and races -- Zahra Hankir, editor of 'Our Women on the Ground' Complacent, well-intentioned feminism isn't good enough... The heart of what this book demands - a feminism that is less self-satisfied and secure in its power, more curious about the differences in women's experiences, and more generous and expansive in its reach - is worth fighting for * Mythili G. Rao, Washington Post * Zakaria eloquently reveals the smug assumptions behind white western feminism [and] demonstrates quite brilliantly the hypocrisy of middle and upper class white feminists who conveniently ignore and exploit the power advantages traceable to centuries of imperialism. This book is a wake-up call for white feminists -- Remi Adekoya, author of 'Biracial Britain' An exploration of the divisive effects of whiteness on feminism and a strong argument for transforming long-standing power structures... Demanding anti-capitalist empowerment, political solidarity, and intersectional redistributive change, the author eviscerates white-centred feminism, the tokenization of women of colour, the aid industrial complex, and more... A worthy contribution to feminist and activist studies * Kirkus * A total reconstruction of feminism... Her powerful exploration of the movement's past, which has traditionally been shaped by white women, aims to inform readers, while also illustrating why it is past time to centre Black and brown voices as feminism moves forward * Pop Sugar * Razor-sharp [and] detailed analysis... A true feminist will remain engaged in the feminist agenda while also rejecting white feminism * Litro Magazine * Zakaria lays out the case for the harm caused by the movement escaping acknowledgment of its privilege and how it monopolizes networks and opportunities, shutting out women of colour and nonbinary individuals... A reckoning and a wake-up call * Boston.com * Against White Feminism is full of harsh, painful truths about how one kind of feminism can dominate and silence woman outside of its focus. Strong and powerfully persuasive, it accords with much that I have experienced. It's a fantastic book -- Nadifa Mohamed, author of 'The Fortune Men'

Rafia Zakaria is an attorney, political philosopher, human rights activist, and author of two books: The Upstairs Wife (selected as one of the Most Important Nonfiction Books of the Year by Newsweek) and Veil, part of the Bloomsbury Object Lessons series. Her writing on global feminist and immigrant issues has appeared in The Baffler and DAWN (Pakistan's largest English-language daily), where she writes regular columns, as well as in the New York Times, Guardian, New Republic, Nation, CNN Opinion and more. Zakaria is currently a Research Scholar at the Colin Powell Center for Civic Leadership at City College New York. Born and raised in Karachi, she now lives in Indiana.