“but there is nothing feminist about ruling-class women who do the dirty work of bombing other countries and sustaining regimes of apartheid; of backing neocolonial interventions in the name of humanitarianism, while remaking silent about the genocides perpetrated by their own governments; of expropriating defenseless populations through structural adjustment, imposed debt, and forced austerity”

a fantastic book. i read it in one sitting.

While President Obama spoke about a new US approach to foreign policy in the Middle East following the Arab Spring, it was business as usual for the Pentagon. While protestors marched to demand reforms and rights, “trained eyes couldn’t help noticing something startling about the tools of repression in those countries. The armored personnel carriers, tanks, and helicopters used to intimidate or even kill peaceful protesters were often American models.”

Nick Turse writes that this is “a story that should take your breath away.” Certainly, the size and scope of US military interventions across the world accomplishes this. Written during the Obama administration, Turse briefly details how US special ops carry out over 70 special operations a day, how the US is militarily involved in over 120 countries, and how billions of dollars in arms deals happen on a constant basis.

My only criticism is that I wish there was a deeper analysis here. It felt like the author was only scratching the surface.

Despite being a few years old, it proves to be a timely book. As the US violently puts down protestors advocating for the end to the murder of Black Americans by police forces, as well as police and prison abolition, this book is another reminder that violent repression of protest is standard practice for the US government, at home and abroad.

i read this for law school........

“Carceral feminism even styles itself as radical in doing so: radically uncompromising with male sexual entitlement, radically seeking to “burn down” the sex industry. Such radicalism evaporated on closer examination: cops are not feminist. The mainstream feminist movement is correct in identifying prostitution as a patriarchal institution; they conveniently miss that policing is, too. Attempting to eradicate commercial sex through policing does not tackle patriarchy; instead, it continues to produce harassment, arrest, prosecution, eviction, violence, and poverty for those who sell sex.”

This is an absolutely incredible book. I learned so much!!! Written by two sex workers and activists, the book explores the various legal models that police prostitution: from full criminalization, to partial, to regulationism, to decriminalization. More than just an examination of these models, the book is a condemnation of modern policing, as well as the colonialist, capitalist regimes that created the police state. I highly recommend this book.

this book is so bad that i don’t even know where to start. at the beginning of the book, the author calls this work an “essay.” it is certainly not that. the ultimate takeaway from this book is that this author has an astounding ability to say absolutely nothing across 120 pages of overwritten, rambling text.

first, the book is misrepresented in its description on MIT’s website. i bought it bc it seemed to be detailing the process of title ix reports on college campuses. i also bought it because i recently finished carceral capitalism by jackie wang and that was an absolutely fantastic, well-researched book. however, this book is actually NOT about campus sexual violence. it is an incoherent collection of half-formed thoughts. i didn’t even need to look at the bibliography to know that it was not well-researched.

i am not being dramatic when i say that ZERO points were made. no argument whatsoever. i literally just finished this book and i could not tell you the point the author was trying to make.

also features problematic attitudes towards survivors of sexual violence. which really is bamboozling given that the book was written to allegedly show the inadequacies of campus responses to sexual assault.

the author attempts to engage issues of police brutality but falls short yet again. it’s clear that she made no attempt to MEANINGFULLY look into these issues. she literally just glanced over some headlines on police brutality (and campus sexual assault) and cobbled together some random words in what i assume was an attempt to make a point.

my final metric for books on topics like this is “how much would this help someone who is in a situation that the book addresses?” would a survivor be able to pick up this book and feel better informed on the reporting process? would they feel comforted knowing that they’re not alone in feeling like the system failed them? the answers to these questions is no. this book is a CLASSIC example of an academic writing solely to impress other academics, without contributing anything that is actually meaningful. and that, in my opinion, is the absolute worst reason to write a book.

there were other things wrong with this but i’ve already said enough. i don’t need to give any more reasons for you not to read this.

“When we allow Democratic Party leaders to position the party as the moral authority against a worse party, we risk condoning all of what the “less evil” candidate represents. We participate in and perpetuate this cycle of disempowerment. The Democratic Party has grown increasingly conservative over the years due to this policy of compromise and lesser evilism. The party shifts to the right because it doesn’t seek to portray itself as real opposition, but only an easy and un-alienating alternative.”

A great exploration of the history of Black resistance, anarchism, and political power. It’s a short read, but full of information. I learned a lot!!!

just okay. not much to say but it was overwritten at times.

“Change is ongoing. Everything changes in some way—size, position, composition, frequency, velocity, thinking, whatever. Every living thing, every bit of matter, all the energy in the universe changes in some way. I don’t claim that everything changes in every way, but everything changes in some way.”

Haunting, terrifying, astonishing. I read most of this book in one sitting and then stopped for a few days so I could savor the last few pages. It’s really great.

“Our cities are patriarchy written in stone, brick, glass, and concrete.”

“We kept each other safe, and even more, helped each other learn to take up space, to fight back, to be ourselves despite the constant reminders about how we were supposed to look or behave. My friends were my safety net, my city survival toolkit. Schaefer exclaims that her friends “are like a life raft I didn’t know i was looking for before I got on it.” Being with my friends helped me to challenge the deeply-ingrained, unconscious belief I should take up very little room, physically, emotionally, and verbally. They helped me to feel...strong and less afraid. Female friendship, in short, was more than a life raft: it was power.”

This is a powerful little book. Wonderfully researched and extremely thorough, Leslie Kern traces women’s complex relationships with cities. The book is divided into seven sections: City of Men, City of Moms, City of Friends, City of One, City of Protest, City of Fear, and City of Possibility. The book starts with an idea form Adrienne Rich: the geography closest in. “Begin with the material...Begin with the female body...Not to transcend it, but to reclaim it.” Using this concept as a framework, Kern wonders what cities would look like when we use a politics of asking women’s questions. And she does this beautifully. I could go on and on about this book, but I will end by saying I learned so much and that this is a must read for everyone.