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madeleine_with_tea's review against another edition
3.0
The language was too abstract for me to understand her arguments.
creoquelu's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
anicea's review against another edition
4.0
In (at times) utterly gorgeous prose, Butler brings to light the problems with dehumanizing others in the world - be it by responding to violence with violence, indefinitely detaining prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, reducing critiques of Israel to anti-Semitism, etc. At the core of each of the five essays in this collection is the question of what it means to be constituted, politically, as a human being. This book is now one of my all-time favourites.
casmith512's review against another edition
I read most of this book for a class about popular culture in post-9/11 America. Butler makes a very compelling argument for the need to reevaluate the role of violence in the process of collective mourning since 9/11. Her critical assessment of current U.S. domestic and foreign policies flows rather seamlessly into a call for action - one that would put an end to perpetual war and, instead, lead to global solidarity.
While I appreciate the clarity of Butler's writing and agree with the logic of her argument, I am a bit concerned that her aspirations are idealistic to the point of naivety. It would be one thing if the US had never undertook this war on terror; perhaps then the future she imagines might be possible. But, at this point, I think it may be impossible for the entire world to lay down arms. Too much is at stake; too many people are invested, heart and soul; too much damage has been done; this new normal has been in place for too many years now.
I wish for global peace and mutual respect as much as anyone but I feel that Butler's speculations are simply not rooted our current reality. And that is truly disappointing.
That being said, I enjoyed reading through her argument very much. I appreciate the way she deftly navigates very difficult, dark subject matter in a way that isn't too taxing on the reader.
While I appreciate the clarity of Butler's writing and agree with the logic of her argument, I am a bit concerned that her aspirations are idealistic to the point of naivety. It would be one thing if the US had never undertook this war on terror; perhaps then the future she imagines might be possible. But, at this point, I think it may be impossible for the entire world to lay down arms. Too much is at stake; too many people are invested, heart and soul; too much damage has been done; this new normal has been in place for too many years now.
I wish for global peace and mutual respect as much as anyone but I feel that Butler's speculations are simply not rooted our current reality. And that is truly disappointing.
That being said, I enjoyed reading through her argument very much. I appreciate the way she deftly navigates very difficult, dark subject matter in a way that isn't too taxing on the reader.
tdwightdavis's review against another edition
5.0
Still incredibly prescient, even though it was written in the wake of 9/11 and the American invasion of Afghanistan. The essay “Violence, Mourning, Politics” is one of the best pieces of writing from Butler that I’ve read (and I wrote a master’s thesis on her so I’ve done a decent amount of Butler reading) and it really helped me parse and think through the current Western reactions to Russia’s imperialist invasion of Ukraine vs those same reactions to America’s imperialist invasions in the Middle East.