2018

Xenofeminism

Helen Hester

ISBN: 978-1-509-52062-6

Pages: 140

In an era of accelerating technology and increasing complexity, how should we reimagine the emancipatory potential of feminism? How should gender politics be reconfigured in a world being transformed by automation, globalization and the digital revolution?

These questions are addressed in this bold new book by Helen Hester, a founding member of the ‘Laboria Cuboniks’ collective that developed the acclaimed manifesto ‘Xenofeminism: A Politics for Alienation’. Hester develops a three-part definition of xenofeminism grounded in the ideas of technomaterialism, anti-naturalism, and gender abolitionism. She elaborates these ideas in relation to assistive reproductive technologies and interrogates the relationship between reproduction and futurity, while steering clear of a problematic anti-natalism. Finally, she examines what xenofeminist technologies might look like in practice, using the history of one specific device to argue for a future-oriented gender politics that can facilitate alternative models of reproduction.

Challenging and iconoclastic, this visionary book is the essential guide to one of the most exciting intellectual trends in contemporary feminism.

“Postfeminism is over: welcome xenofeminism! Blunt, uncompromising, and often controversial. This is the missing link between radical feminism from the 1970s and contemporary cyborg, trans and queer languages of emancipation. Love it, hate it, but read it.”
Paul B. Preciado, University of Paris VIII

“This is without doubt one of the most exciting texts I have read for quite some time. Lucid, well-grounded and brilliantly original, this short book is a breath of fresh air.”
Claire Colebrook, Pennsylvania State University

“Helen Hester has her eyes set firmly on the future… its impact will be far reaching.”
DIVA Magazine