By shedding light on the links between local and global violence against women and children as part of a colonizing system of family terrorism, Hammer prepares the ground for a transformative feminism in an era of globalization.
Lee Quinby, Macaulay Honors College, CUNY In this serious and engaging work, Rhonda Hammer offers sharp analysis and progressive politics to provide ... Read morean important contribution to antiterror critiques and initiatives.
Joy James, editor, The New Abolitionists Hammer has done feminists an important service by providing this sustained analysis of antifeminism.
American Journal of Sociology
In this explosive book, Rhonda Hammer exposes what she calls 'antifeminist pseudofeminists' and 'feminist impersonators' like Camille Paglia, Christina Hoff Sommers, Katie Roiphe, and Naomi Wolf as collaborators with the colonialization of women worldwide. She powerfully argues that 'power feminism' and 'life-style feminism' are part and parcel of the very global consumer culture through which so many women are oppressed. When girl-power becomes nothing more than an excuse to shop and indulge one's urgesby exploiting others, Hammer rightfully claims that it is out of line with a feminist activism that aims to redress exploitation on a global scale. Hammer also interrogates the notion of domestic violence and fake-feminist responses to it. She develops the notion of 'family terrorism' in order to insist on, rather than diminish, the severity of violence against women and children. She argues that calling it domestic violence makes it a special kind of violence that is not taken quite as seriously or considered quite as violent as other kinds of violence. Indeed, in the last chapter of her book, Hammer persuasively makes the connection between colonization, global capitalism and poverty, and the prevalence of family violence. Hammer's book is the first
Kelly Oliver, SUNY, Stony Brook In this explosive book, Rhonda Hammer exposes what she calls 'antifeminist pseudofeminists' and 'feminist impersonators' like Camille Paglia, Christina Hoff Sommers, Katie Roiphe, and Naomi Wolf as collaborators with the colonialization of women worldwide. She powerfully argues that 'power feminism' and 'life-style feminism' are part and parcel of the very global consumer culture through which so many women are oppressed. When girl-power becomes nothing more than an excuse to shop and indulge one's urges by exploiting others, Hammer rightfully claims that it is out of line with a feminist activism that aims to redress exploitation on a global scale. Hammer also interrogates the notion of domestic violence and fake-feminist responses to it. She develops the notion of 'family terrorism' in order to insist on, rather than diminish, the severity of violence against women and children. She argues that calling it domestic violence makes it a special kind of violence that is not taken quite as seriously or considered quite as violent as other kinds of violence. Indeed, in the last chapter of her book, Hammer persuasively makes the connection between colonization, global capitalism and poverty, and the prevalence of family violence. Hammer's book is the first sustained analysis of the popularization of a certain conservative feminism, or pseudofeminism, that creates intellectual celebrities but does not address the real problems that women continue to face. Her discussion of the role of the media in the creation of feminist celebrities that appeal to young women is brilliant. Hammer's one-two punch will have many feminist scholars and activists cheering that finally someone has taken the time to meticulously expose conservative feminism as a self-serving opportunistic media fad that not only covers over the real-world exploitation of women but also collaborates with that exploitation!
Kelly Oliver, SUNY, Stony Brook Show Less