Sara Ahmed — No!: The Art and Activism of Complaining - with Soraya Chemaly episode artwork

EPISODE · Apr 24, 2026 · 56 MIN

Sara Ahmed — No!: The Art and Activism of Complaining - with Soraya Chemaly

from Politics and Prose Presents · host Politics and Prose

An assembly of refusals portraying the radical power of "no" by the renowned scholar and author of The Feminist Killjoy Handbook, Sara Ahmed.To be heard as complaining is not to be heard, writes Sara Ahmed. In her sweeping exploration of complaint as a means of resistance, Ahmed attunes her "feminist ear" to those who seek to challenge powerful institutions. She shows how complaints can unbury past complaints, getting them out of filing cabinets or from behind closed doors, allowing us to see institutions more clearly--how they work, and for whom they work.Where complaints live, how complaints are made, who receives them, who buries them and where--Ahmed's accessible, attentive writing brings to life the lessons learned from people knocking at closed doors, teaching us how to collectively resist the glacial weight of institutional power. This book inspires all of us to persist, to say "No " and to build new collectivities that break down brick walls together.Sara Ahmed is an independent feminist scholar who works at the intersection of feminist, queer, and race studies. Her research is concerned with how bodies and worlds take shape and how power is secured and challenged in everyday life as well as institutional cultures. She has published eleven books, including The Feminist Killjoy Handbook. She lives in Cambridgeshire, England.Ahmed is in conversation with Soraya Chemaly, an award-winning writer and activist whose work focuses on the role of gender in culture, politics, religion, and media. She is the director of the Women's Media Center Speech Project and an advocate for women's freedom of expression and expanded civic and political engagement. A prolific writer and speaker, her articles appear in Time, The Verge, The Guardian, The Nation, HuffPost, and The Atlantic. Follow her on X at @SChemaly and learn more at SorayaChemaly.com.PURCHASE:https://politics-prose.com/book/9781558613683?ic_referral=O-VYY_qK6xdHs6y47VMA3SXxwjSaCPA6NxTWEnMEzQAwM9ftbIv_CRmI_UV3vQd3dP7Zsf3v_B_D-megeypHdm4MEge9mdqPVKva0enBieo044Wi0QuVUs05pJfPaJI8hXS2J-A

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Sara Ahmed — No!: The Art and Activism of Complaining - with Soraya Chemaly

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