Further information and tickets here.

Part of the No is Not a Lonely Utterance book tour.

Conversation with Noreen Masud.

Part of the No is not a Lonely Utterance book tour.

Information and tickets here:

Part of the No is Not a Lonely Utterance book tour.

Further Information and tickets available here.

Part of the No is Not a Lonely Utterance book tour.

Information about the event here.

Tickets available here

Come along and say no to help launch Sara’s new book, No is Not a Lonely Utterance: The Art and Activism of Complaining. Institutions make it hard to say no in them or to them as is evidenced by their increasing use of force against those who are protesting the genocide in Gaza. However hard it is made to say no, saying it can be how we find others who say it. No can be how we share our refusal to accept a situation, clarify our projects, and find our people.

In the book, Sara reflects on her experience of supporting a complaint about sexual harassment made by a student-led collective before she turns to share stories of complaint from different workplaces. For this event, she is pleased to be joined by members of that collective including Heidi Hasbrouck, Tiffany Page and Leila Whitley, as well as Akanksha Mehta, co-director of The Centre for Feminist Research at Goldsmiths, who will participate virtually.

Please note that this event will be masked. There will be some masks available at the Library, but bring your own if you have/prefer them!

There is an option to join us online - please email events@feministlibrary.co.uk to let us know you would like to receive a joining link.

Please note the event will involve discussion of institutional violence, bullying, harassment and hostile environments.

(picture credit: Guerilla Girls)

Tickets available here.

This is the opening event for the No is Not a Lonely Utterance book tour.

“Join us at Round Table Books for the launch of feminist killjoy and scholar extraordinaire, Sara Ahmed's new book, No is Not a Lonely Utterance, The Art and Activism of Complaining on Thursday, 18th of September. 

Sara is a truly intersectional feminist who speaks to the feminist niggle in all of us, and this book is no different. We all know that to complain is an intimate, dangerous act - whether it’s speaking up about racism in the workplace or taking a stand against sexual harassment at university, the act of complaining to an institution can leave you isolated and undermined, all while the original injustice remains unresolved.

In this incredibly accessible, affirming book,  Sara Ahmed dissects the anatomy of a complaint, revealing how institutions create hostile environments that stigmatize complainers, and charts a way we can listen to grievances with ‘feminist ears’ and create a better environment for our life's work. This book has spoken to us in so many ways, and we are very excited to share it with you, and celebrate Sara's latest work. 

Join us to hear from Sara herself, and for an evening of community discussion. Books will be available to buy on the day, and Sara will be signing copies!”

Tickets are FREE and available HERE, but limited in number. As we have restricted spaces, please 'return' your ticket if you are no longer able to make it. 

A complaint is how we say no, how we refuse to acquiesce to a situation. We might say no to a harasser and to the institution that enables harassment. But saying no within an institution, or to one, is no simple matter. It often leads to being shut out or shut down. In this lecture, I explore how no is a small word with a lot of work to do; or how we have a lot of work to do to keep it going. Even when a no shuts a door, that no can be passed down and picked up by others. A no can be how we clarify our projects and find our people. I will be drawing on my forthcoming book, No is Not a Lonely Utterance: The Art and Activism of Complaining.

Register here for the in person event:

Register here for the online event:

Further details coming soon!

https://www.sabanciuniv.edu/tr/events/detail/27804

Lecture description:

In this lecture I will reflect on what I have learnt from how the figure of the feminist killjoy has been translated into different languages. I will return to some of my earlier considerations on the ethics of translation in Strange Encounters (2000) and also connect ‘killjoy translations’ to my recent concern with how ‘no’ is a sociable utterance. I will explore how activism might require the perpetual act of translating our refusals of gendered, institutional, state and colonial violence.

Event description:

With this one-day event, we aim to explore and reframe the horizons, challenges, and possibilities of transfeminist queer translation in its interconnection with theories of affect and decoloniality. The conference’s idea was born out of reflections stemming from the translations into Italian of the work of leading feminist writer and independent scholar Sara Ahmed, who will act as a keynote speaker at the event, and of other recent translations into Italian of feminist and queer thinkers and writers. It also stems from a special issue on affect and queer feminist translation that Michela and Samuele are co-editing for the journal Italian Culture.

Further details here: https://www.queerfeministtranslation.uk/

In her talk, Dr. Ahmed explores how diversity is increasingly framed as forced change, an ideological imposition, or as compelled speech. Given these attacks on diversity and equality initiatives, it might seem that it is time to abandon critiques of what diversity is not doing. The aim of Dr. Ahmed’s lecture is to show how these critiques provide the tools to explain and challenge what is going on.

Dr. Ahmed will draw on two projects: the first on complaint; the second on common sense. For the former, she uses research from her newest book A Complainer’s Handbook: A Guide to Building Less Hostile Institutions for an understanding of institutional power and institutional change. She will also draw on a new project on common sense. Common sense is increasingly appealed to as a legacy, an alternative to “wokeism,” and as an argument against institutional change.

Further information and registration: https://events.ok.ubc.ca/event/changing-institutions-common-sense-complaint-and-other-lessons-in-legacy/

Time zone: 9am PST and 5pm GMT.

In this lecture I will share some reflections on why the feminist killjoy has become a central figure in my writing, philosophy and activism. Drawing on Living a Feminist Life and The Feminist Killjoy Handbook, which have both been recently translated into Polish, I will explain why I think of killing joy as a task more than an identity. To be a killjoy at work is to work on institutions as well as at them, to be willing to complain about institutional problems even if that means becoming the problem. To be killjoys at work is also to show how institutions often resist being changed by appearing to be committed to it. I will offer some observations on the creativity and collectivity of killing joy drawing on my recently completed, A Complainer’s Handbook: A Guide To Building Less Hostile Institutions. 

https://artmuseum.pl/en/events/killjoys-at-work-lecture-by-sara-ahmed

Time is Eastern Time (4pm GMT).

In my book, On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life, published over a decade ago, I explored how diversity is used by institutions as a way of appearing to doing something. The appearance of change can be a form of resistance to change. And yet, diversity is increasingly framed as forced change, an ideological imposition, or as compelled speech. Given these attacks on diversity and equality initiatives, it might seem that it is time to abandon our critiques of what diversity is not doing. One of my aims in this lecture is to show how these critiques give us the tools to explain and challenge what is going on. I will draw on two projects: the first on complaint; the second on common sense. For the former, I spoke to academics and students who had made or considered making complaints about abuses of power and inequalities within universities.  I am now working on a new book A Complainer’s Handbook: A Guide to Building Less Hostile Institutions (a companion text to The Feminist Killjoy Handbook) in which I pull out the significance of this research for an understanding of institutional change. I will also draw on a new project on common sense. Common sense is increasingly appealed to as a legacy, an alternative to “wokeism,” and as an argument against institutional change. 

Register here

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYldu2hrjguH9N-c4TyOf8H7_UI3d5voMCu

Information and registration here:

https://www.thephilosopher1923.org/events/on-feminist-killjoys

https://cajanegraeditora.com.ar/acciones/sara-ahmed-en-conversacion-con-carmen-romero-bachiller/

https://cajanegraeditora.com.ar/acciones/sara-ahmed-en-conversacion-con-carmen-romero-bachiller/

Futher Information available here:

https://www.losencuentrosdepamplona.com/en/participante/sara-ahmed/

https://womenslibrary.org.uk/event/sara-ahmed-killjoys-on-tour/

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/finding-other-killjoys-tickets-909321253347

In my book, On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life, published over a decade ago, I explored how diversity is used by institutions as a way of appearing to doing something. The appearance of change can be a form of resistance to change. And yet, diversity is increasingly framed as forced change, an ideological imposition, or as compelled speech. Given these attacks on diversity and equality initiatives, it might seem that it is time to abandon our critiques of what diversity is not doing. One of my aims in this lecture is to show how these critiques give us the tools to explain and challenge what is going on. I will draw on two projects: the first on complaint; the second on common sense. For the former, I spoke to academics and students who had made or considered making complaints about abuses of power and inequalities within universities.  I am now working on a new book A Complainer’s Handbook: A Guide to Building Less Hostile Institutions (a companion text to The Feminist Killjoy Handbook) in which I pull out the significance of this research for an understanding of institutional power and institutional change. I will also draw on a new project on common sense. Common sense is increasingly appealed to as a legacy, an alternative to “wokeism,” and as an argument against institutional change. 

 https://nieuweinstituut.nl/en/events/changing-institutions-sara-ahmed

https://linktr.ee/skopjeprideweekend?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR02CpnWbDjIZAMIswkBVF5L-wkp9yE8cC8J8wpYp8lO8h1FkYIm3QyuWYk_aem_ZmFrZWR1bW15MTZieXRlcw

Further Information here:

https://literalbcn.com/activitats/explorar-les-identitats-sara-ahmed-conversa-amb-bel-olid/

In haar boek Queer Phenomenology uit 2006 heeft Sara Ahmed het uitgebreid over tafels. Ze begint met schrijftafels, één van de meest besproken objecten in de filosofie, en richt zich vervolgens op keukentafels en hoe deze familiebijeenkomsten faciliteren en oriënteren. Ahmed levert in haar werk geregeld kritiek op ‘gelukkige’ tafels, waarbij ze de rol van de feministische pretbederfster opneemt, die een gezellige sfeer in de weg staat. Tijdens deze lezing zal Ahmed stilstaan bij hoe tafels ertoe doen – van schrijftafels over keukentafels tot vergadertafels. Ze zal aantonen hoe instellingen diversiteit inzetten om de indruk te wekken dat iedereen kan deelnemen, dat iedereen een zitje aan de ‘verzorgde’ tafel krijgt. Ze laat zien hoe we net méér te weten komen over instituten (inclusief het gezin) als we weigeren de tafel op te poetsen. Sara Ahmed is een onafhankelijke queer feministische wetenschapster van kleur. Haar werk focust op hoe macht wordt ervaren en uitgedaagd in het dagelijks leven en binnen institutionele culturen.

Further information: https://www.visit.brussels/en/visitors/agenda/event-detail.Setting-the-Table-Reflections-on-How-Tables-Matter-Sara-Ahmed-Kunstenfestivaldesarts.50008654

In my book, On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life, published over a decade ago, I explored how diversity is used by institutions as a way of appearing to doing something. The appearance of change can be a form of resistance to change. And yet, diversity is increasingly framed as forced change, an ideological imposition, or as compelled speech. Given these attacks on diversity and equality initiatives, it might seem that it is time to abandon our critiques of what diversity is not doing. One of my aims in this lecture is to show how these critiques give us the tools to explain and challenge what is going on. I will draw on two projects: the first on complaint; the second on common sense. For the former, I spoke to academics and students who had made or considered making complaints about abuses of power and inequalities within universities.  I am now working on a new book A Complainer’s Handbook: A Guide to Building Less Hostile Institutions, in which I pull out the significance of this research for an understanding of institutional change. I will also draw on a new project on common sense. Common sense is increasingly appealed to as a legacy, an alternative to “wokeism,” and as an argument against institutional change. 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/changing-institutions-common-sense-complaint-and-other-lessons-in-legacy-tickets-863633229237

In my book, On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life, published over a decade ago, I explored how diversity is used by institutions as a way of appearing to doing something. The appearance of change can be a form of resistance to change. And yet, diversity is increasingly framed as forced change, an ideological imposition, or as compelled speech. Given these attacks on diversity and equality initiatives, it might seem that it is time to abandon our critiques of what diversity is not doing. One of my aims in this lecture is to show how these critiques give us the tools to explain and challenge what is going on. I will draw on two projects: the first on complaint; the second on common sense. For the former, I spoke to academics and students who had made or considered making complaints about abuses of power and inequalities within universities.  I am now working on a new book A Complainer’s Handbook: A Guide to Building Less Hostile Institutions, in which I pull out the significance of this research for an understanding of institutional change. I will also draw on a new project on common sense. Common sense is increasingly appealed to as a legacy, an alternative to “wokeism,” and as an argument against institutional change. 

https://t.co/t5BIhLCVJW

11am EST, 4pm BST

Sara Ahmed presents two of her books, 'Feminist Killjoy Handbook' and 'Queer Vandalism', with her co-translators Emma Bigé and Mabeuko Oberty.

She also talks about the forthcoming book 'Vivre une vie féministe' (published by Hors d'atteinte).

https://www.lafayetteanticipations.com/en/manifestation/killing-joy-queer-projecthttps://www.lafayetteanticipations.com/en/manifestation/killing-joy-queer-project

Join us on IWD to express killjoy solidarity, the solidarity we need to face what we come up against. This informal discussion, led by feminist of colour scholar-activists Sara Ahmed and Akanksha Mehta, marks the moment of the paperback release of The Feminist Killjoy Handbook. We hope to create a space for shared reflection on how we survive and transform institutions, finding each other in the midst of many violences. We will keep in mind Chicana-Palestinian feminist Sarah Ihmoud’s vital question, “What does it mean to practice feminism in a moment of bearing witness to genocide?” 

Sara Ahmed (she/her) is a queer feminist scholar of colour. She has been writing about feminist killjoys for some time (but has been a feminist killjoy for much longer).

Akanksha Mehta (she/her) is a queer feminist educator, researcher, and writer from India, living in SE London. She likes to fight, dismantle, build and dreams of a world that is not  so exhausting for every one of us. 

Registration details coming soon!

Join us to share some killjoy solidarity and to celebrate the paperback release of The Feminist Killjoy Handbook! Author Sara Ahmed will be in conversation with her friend and comrade in queer world making Jonathan Keane. They will reflect together on why the figure of the feminist killjoy has so much queer potential. 

Further information and tickets here: https://www.outsavvy.com/event/18284/the-feminist-killjoy-handbook-sara-ahmed-in-conversation-with-jonathan-keane

Details and tickets here: https://www.thesmallcitybookshop.co.uk/event-details/the-feminist-killjoy-handbook-paperback-launch-with-sara-ahmed

In this lecture I reflect back on my experience of writing The Feminist Killjoy Handbook (Seal Press, 2023). I explain why I gave feminist killjoys a book of their own, well over ten years after giving them a chapter in The Promise of Happiness. I explore how feminist killjoys turned up in my own work and what I have learnt from killjoy encounters, at home and at work. I will also clarify what I mean by “killing joy as a world making project,” which is the tagline for my feminist killjoy blog. 

Register here: https://ramconnect.wcupa.edu/CWGE/rsvp_boot?id=2260070

Time zone EST (5-6.30pm GMT)

Further details here: https://www.goodwoodbooks.com.au/

Tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/sara-ahmed

To be a killjoy at work is to work on institutions as well as at them. In this lecture I explore what we come to know about institutions from our efforts to transform them. I will draw especially from two chapters “The Feminist Killjoy as Philosopher” and “The Feminist Killjoy as Activist” in my newly published The Feminist Killjoy Handbook. To be killjoys at work means being willing to confront institutional problems, to question how diversity is happily claimed by organisations, and to challenge how they use our efforts to change them as evidence they have changed. To be killjoys at work also requires being alert to how the figure of the feminist killjoy can be appropriated and neutralised. We have to find other institutional killjoys, because the more we come up against, the more we need more.

Register here: https://www.kpu.ca/provost-presents