Abstract
The experience of the Covid-19 pandemic has made us acutely aware of human vulnerability and the multiple crises we face today. In response, this edited volume brings together feminist and queer scholars from diverse regions of the world to examine pressing crisis issues. Drawing on cases from North America (the United States and Mexico), South America (Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, and Colombia), Europe and Asia (Ireland, Türkiye, India, and Indonesia), and the Anglophone Caribbean, the volume offers a truly transnational perspective on three dimensions of crisis: ecological devastation and economic exploitation, political authoritarianism and violence, and the denial of reproductive justice and bodily autonomy.
The book is clearly structured into an introduction, three thematic parts (I–III), and a conclusion, with Parts I to III responding, respectively, to the three crises. The Introduction explains the notion of crisis, discusses transnational feminism as the volume's foundation, and provides an overview of the twelve chapters.
Part I focuses on ecological devastation and economic exploitation. Whitney A. Bauman engages religion, nature, and queer theory to argue that queering discourses of both religion and nature destabilizes essential understandings of the human, opening up fluid identities in a post-human world. Wendy Harcourt's “Stories of Care” draws on feminist political ecology (FPE) to analyze narratives of care emerging from activist responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. Ecological issues are another key focus of this part, as seen in Elisabeth Prügl and Wening Udasmoro's examination of women's resistance to land grabbing in Indonesia, identifying four framings rooted in generational reproduction, livelihoods, environmental reproduction, and community peace. Finally, the scope shifts to Latin America, where Lucía Cavallero analyzes feminist resistance against financial violence in Argentina, proposing “financial violence” (p. 58) as a concept to synthesize the violence produced by debt in the lives of lesbians and trans people— a highlight of this part, as it not only provides the notion of “financial violence” but also attends to the trans and lesbian communities.
Part II focuses on political authoritarianism and violence. Lara Selis and others examine the current conservative surge in Brazil, particularly the Evangelical groups, considering them as a movement gathered around the advocacy of traditional family values, anti-gender campaigns, and religious nationalism. Canan Balkır examines gender policy and democratic backsliding in Türkiye with the decline of EU influence. In Latin America, Juliana Restrepo Sanín examines how activists have raised awareness of “violence against women in politics” (VAWIP) (p. 105). Comparing three paths: feminist activists in Bolivia, “femocrats” in Mexico, and international organizations in Colombia, she points out that “cooperation was necessary for the successful adoption of anti-violence laws and the expansion of women's political rights” (p. 106). The last chapter turns to the Anglophone Caribbean with Trinidad and Tobago as a case study, reflecting on the impact of gun violence on women in this country, not only resonating well with this part's central theme but also paying attention to a special regional and not-often-mentioned topic — gun violence — making this chapter a particularly compelling read.
Part III addresses the denial of reproductive justice and bodily autonomy. Karla Mundim and others examine how Fujimori's family planning initiative (1996–2000) harmed Indigenous women's bodies in Peru. From a transnational feminist perspective, Dyuti Chakravarty compares India's Pinjra Tod movement with Ireland's abortion ban. This seemingly distant intercontinental comparison is bridged by a transnational lens that examines women's common reproductive issues, envisioning a liberatory feminist future built on bodily autonomy for all. The volume also pays attention to lesbian communities. Mariana Meriqui Rodrigues analyzes anti-gender backlash among lesbians in Brazil via the plan LesboCenso, while Otovo and Thomas focus on another distinctive group—Black women. Drawing on the Black Mothers Care Plan, they examine their maternal health and highlight Black feminist theory's role in guiding equitable partnerships. The Conclusion revisits the three crises, highlighting the importance of resistance, care, solidarity, and hope, while noting that the struggle continues for a more just and equitable world for all.
The volume's greatest contribution is its diverse socio-geographic analysis, geographically spanning Europe, North America, parts of Asia, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. Additionally, in terms of topics, it refers to economic, political, violence, and reproductive crises, letting us witness the struggles and injustices that women continue to face today. It also attends to Indigenous, lesbian, queer, trans and Black women, in this way reflecting a multi-dimensional and multi-regional concern for gender justice.
However, it has limitations. It doesn’t pay enough attention to East Asian women, especially those in China, Japan, and Korea, who face multiple crises and injustices under Confucian cultural contexts and actively resist them as well. Thus, including more work by East Asian scholars from different perspectives and covering various women's groups would have strengthened the volume. Furthermore, although Part I is titled “Ecological devastation and economic exploitation”, only two chapters address ecological issues. Considering the urgency of environmental problems, the volume could use a dedicated ecofeminist section to highlight the significance of ecological issues and their impact on diverse communities of women. Finally, it involves more case studies than theoretical analysis of crisis itself. More conceptual reflection in this regard would help support these analyses. It would also help readers better understand the conception of feminism and crisis as a compound phenomenon and process.
Despite these limitations, the volume reveals women's struggles for justice under the three crises. It will appeal to scholars in gender studies, political science, and social studies. For Affilia readers, it demonstrates how these three crises are gendered and racialized transnationally and provides a critical tool to situate local interventions within broader feminist solidarities, reminding us that the fight for a more equitable world for women everywhere remains ongoing.
This work was supported by the Jiangsu Provincial Social Science Project—Comparative Study of Chinese and Spanish Marine Poetry from the Perspective of Ecology and Intercultural Communication under Grant [number 23WWC004].
