In Defence of Separatism (Spinifex Shorts)

In Defence of Separatism is a timely book. When it was first written in 1976, although it was an important subject of conversation among many feminists, it was not welcomed by academics or publishers. When a political group wants to strategise with one another so that its members can arrive at agreed-on political tactics and ideas, they call for, and create, separate spaces. These might be in coffee shops, in community centres, in one anothers homes or in semi-public spacessuch as workers clubs, even cinemas. When the proletariat was rebelling, they did not ask the capitalists and aristocracy to join them ... when the civil rights movement started it was not thanks to the ideas and politics of white people ... when the womens liberation movement sprang into life, it was women joining together to fight against their oppression. The difference is that women are supposed to love men. Through careful argument, Susan Hawthorne takes us through the ideaswhich are central to her argument. She analyses the nature of power, oppression, domination and institutions and applies these to heterosexuality, rape and romantic love. She concludes with a call for women, all women no matter their sexuality, to have separate spaces so they can work together tochange the world and end patriarchy. This 2019 edition includes a Preface and commentary that brings the reader up to date on current controversies in feminist theory.