ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2024 ACCORDING TO THE TIMES GUARDIAN FINANCIAL TIMES
NEW STATESMAN THE INDEPENDENT THE SCOTSMAN THE GLOBE AND MAIL AND TIMEShouldn't we know
what we're arguing about?From one of the most influential thinkers of our time an enlightening
essential account of how a fear of gender is fuelling reactionary politics around the world
Judith Butler the ground-breaking philosopher whose work has redefined how we think about
gender and sexuality confronts the attacks on gender that have become central to right-wing
movements today. Global networks have formed 'anti-gender ideology movements' dedicated to
circulating a fantasy that gender is a dangerous threat to families local cultures
civilization - and even 'man' himself. Inflamed by the rhetoric of public figures this
movement has sought to abolish reproductive justice undermine protections against violence
and strip trans and queer people of their rights. But what exactly is so disturbing about
gender? In this vital courageous book Butler carefully examines how 'gender' has become a
phantasm for emerging authoritarian regimes fascist formations and transexclusionary feminists
and the concrete ways in which this phantasm works. Operating in tandem with deceptive accounts
of critical race theory and xenophobic panics about migration the anti-gender movement
demonizes struggles for equality and leaves millions of people vulnerable to subjugation. An
essential intervention into one of the most fraught issues of our moment Who's Afraid of
Gender? is a galvanizing call to make a broad coalition with all those who struggle for
equality and fight injustice. Imagining new possibilities for freedom and solidarity Butler
offers us an essentially hopeful work that is both timely and timeless.
