Against White Feminism

A powerfully persuasive account of what white feminism is and an empowering manifesto for revolution

Feminism is founded on a belief in equality. And in the past 200 years it has made incredible gains: paving the way for women to advance economically, increasing their safety and their power in society, and advocating for their needs and experiences.

But not all women.

Since its conception, feminism has catered to a very particular group of people: middle class, cis-gendered, Western, and above all, white. And this has not merely been an oversight, a failure of inclusion. It has been an active and sustained strategy.

Rafia Zakaria traces the connections between feminism and white supremacy from the suffrage movement to the 'fourth wave' we see today, demonstrating how this movement based on equality has always been riddled with inequality and exploitation. And she issues a powerful call to arms to every reader to build a new kind of feminism which will light the path to true emancipation for all.

About the Author

Rafia Zakaria is an attorney, political philosopher, human rights activist, and author of two books- The Upstairs Wife (selected as one of the Most Important Nonfiction Books of the Year by Newsweek) and Veil, part of the Bloomsbury Object Lessons series. Her writing on global feminist and immigrant issues has appeared in The Baffler and DAWN (Pakistan's largest English-language daily), where she writes regular columns, as well as in the New York Times, Guardian, New Republic, Nation, CNN Opinion and more. Zakaria is currently a Research Scholar at the Colin Powell Center for Civic Leadership at City College New York. Born and raised in Karachi, she now lives in Indiana.