The Feminist Killjoy Handbook
The handbook is now out in the UK with Allen Unwin and in the US with Seal Press in the US.
The handbook has been translated into Spanish, French, Polish, German, Turkish and Italian with Korean, Greek and Croatian translations forthcoming,
Table of Contents
1. Introducing the Feminist Killjoy
2. Surviving as a Feminist Killjoy
3. The Feminist Killjoy as Cultural Critic
4. The Feminist Killjoy as Philosopher
5. The Feminist Killjoy as Poet
6. The Feminist Killjoy as Activist
Killjoy Truths, Killjoy Maxims, Killjoy Commitments, and Killjoy Equations
Recommending Reading for Feminist Killjoys
Feminist Killjoy Reading Groups - Discussion Questions
My forthcoming book began with the title, A Complainer’s Handbook: A Guide to Building Less Hostile Institutions.
It now has a new title. In the UK it will come out as No is Not a Lonely Utterance: the Art and Activism of Complaining with Allen Unwin in September 2025.
In a note on my newsletter, I explain the title change.
Description:
‘Behind many disasters are unheard complaints’
To complain is an intimate, dangerous act. Whether it’s speaking up about racism in the workplace or taking a stand against sexual harassment at university, the act of complaining to an institution can leave you isolated and undermined, all while the original injustice remains unresolved. Time and time again, we see these unanswered complaints compound to disastrous effect.
In No is Not a Lonely Utterance, Sara Ahmed dissects the anatomy of a complaint, revealing how institutions create hostile environments that stigmatize complainers, and charts a way we can listen to grievances with ‘feminist ears’: going beyond mere validation and seeking instead to address the root causes of injustice and inequality.
Weaving together testimonies from various walks of life, Ahmed shows us what we learn about the ways institutions exercise their power when complaints are raised, and indeed what we learn about our capacity to collectivize and create social bonds through complaint. In doing so, she inspires us to create better environments for our life’s work.
Contents Page
Preface: A Complaint Biography
Introduction: A Feminist Ear
Part One: Making Complaints
Chapter 1: Complaints as Coming Out Stories
Letting it In, Hitting the Doors, Unintentional Complaints, After Complaint
Chapter 2: A Complainer as an Institutional Plumber
From Informality to Formality, From Warnings to Threats, From Bribes to Blanks, Administrative Violence
Part Two: Changing Institutions
Chapter 3: Complaint as Feminist Pedagogy
Institutional Power, Loyalties and Legacies, Policing the Critic, A Will to Power
Chapter 4: Complaint as Diversity Work
Diversity Workers, Hostile Environments, Changing Policies, Forced Change
Part Three: Dismantling and World Building
Chapter 5: Complaints as Activism
Becoming Complaint Activists, Complaint Collectives, Research and Activism, Complaint to Protest
Chapter 6: Complaint as a Queer Method
False Positives, Institutional Closets, Communicating Complaints, Survival as Complaint
A Complainer’s Survival Kit
A Complaint Curriculum
Acknowledgements
Notes