The 2017 #MeToo movement was a flagship moment, a time which empowered women to share their stories of sexual harassment and abuse in a spirit of solidarity and in demand of change. But have some men simply changed tactics?
Acclaimed author Sam Mills investigates the phenomenon of the chauvo-feminist, the man whose public feminism works to advance his career, whilst his private self exhibits age-old chauvinistic tactics. Through testimonies and her own experience, Mills examines the psychological underpinnings of the chauvo-feminist, exploring questions of modern relationships, consent, and emotional abuse and asks how we might move beyond ‘trial by Twitter’ to encourage an honest and productive dialogue between men and women.
Sam Mills is the author of numerous books, including The Quiddity of Will Self (Corsair, 2013), and recent memoir of love, madness and caring The Fragments of My Father (Fourth Estate, 2020).
Praise
‘We’ve all met That Guy. In this searching and provocative essay, Sam Mills neatly skewers the men who publicly spout feminism while treating women badly behind closed doors –– and asks how we can move forward to a happier, more feminist future.’ Samantha Ellis
‘Thought-provoking, on point and abreast of contemporary ideas about the chauvinism of women’s everyday lives. A book for our times.’ Monique Roffey
‘In this lithe and luminous essay, Sam Mills explodes the hypocrisy of many men in the wake of the #MeToo movement . . . Clever, funny, gripping and beautifully written… An exploration not just of the female experience, but of civilisation itself. This is a dazzling, essential book. Men with mutant politics: beware!’ Emma Jane Unsworth
AI has unparalleled transformative potential to reshape society but without legal scrutiny, international oversight and public debate, we are sleepwalking into a future written by algorithms which encode regressive biases into our daily lives. As governments and corporations worldwide embrace AI technologies in pursuit of efficiency and profit, we are at risk of losing our common humanity: an attack that is as insidious as it is pervasive.
Leading privacy expert Ivana Bartoletti exposes the reality behind the AI revolution, from the low-paid workers who train algorithms to recognise cancerous polyps, to the rise of data violence and the symbiotic relationship between AI and right-wing populism. Impassioned and timely, An Artificial Revolution is an essential primer to understand the intersection of technology and geopolitical forces shaping the future of civilisation, and the political response that will be required to ensure the protection of democracy and human rights.
Praise
‘Bartoletti exhorts us at all times to bring our human intelligence to bear on the potentially dystopian power structures behind AI, writing with clarity, expertise and passion.’ Paul Mason, author of PostCapitalism: A Guide to Our Future
‘A powerful wake up call… Tech should benefit everyone and Bartoletti’s book argues passionately for how it could and should improve our burning planet.’ Ayesha Hazarika, broadcaster, journalist and political commentator
‘Bartoletti demonstrates the potential for artificial intelligence to encode discrimination of all kinds into algorithmic patterns. Technology can improve our lives, but to harness all its positive potential, she rightly and powerfully insists on public accountability and scrutiny.’ David Lammy MP
‘Bartoletti’s feminist gaze is sharp on male technocrats using tech tools to manipulate and persuade politically… I am still reeling from its power.’ Noel Sharkey, Eremitus Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at the University of Sheffield
‘Ivana powerfully exposes the reality of data discrimination and online targeting in society and the danger of AI, as a result, becoming our master not our servant. She also clearly outlines the radical changes to power structures and culture and the embedding of ethics which are necessary in finding the solution.’ Tim Clement-Jones, Lib Dem spokesperson for the digital economy in the House of Lords
‘An essential read. At a time when we are fighting to put our environment at the top of the political agenda, Ivana Bartoletti lucidly demonstrates how another future for our digital environment.’ Mete Coban, CEO of My Life My Say
‘An absorbing and thought-provoking analysis of how technology is transforming our life, and a simple message: workers are far more than something for algorithms to hire or fire. AI holds promises and can make our life better but only if we, citizens, workers and trade unions are involved in the conversation.’ Frances O’Grady, General Secretary of the TUC
‘AI is going to shake up the way we do everything. That’s why Ivana Bartoletti is calling on everyone to shake up the way we think about AI.’ Yvette Cooper, Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee
Aged 15 and on track to be an Olympic gymnast, Lucia Osborne-Crowley was violently raped on a night out. The injuries she sustained that evening ended her gymnastics career, and eventually manifested in life-long chronic illnesses, which medical professionals now believe can be caused by untreated trauma.
In a brilliantly researched and deeply affecting essay, Osborne-Crowley invites the reader to her on decade-long journey to recovery: from the immediate aftermath of the assault, through years of misdiagnosis, to the solace and strength she found in writers like Elena Ferrante.
The author’s investigations reveal profound societal failures – of law, justice, education and the healthcare system. An essential contribution to the field of literature on assault and trauma, I Choose Elena argues that it is only through empathy than we can begin to address the self-perpetuating cycle of sexual violence.
Praise
‘Thank-you Lucia Osborne-Crowley for writing I Choose Elena, for your bold and precise testimony on the devastation of sexual violence, on the body’s extraordinary and destructive compulsion to contain its own trauma. Every one of the insights you share is extremely hard-won, and I am so grateful to you for putting them into this incredible book.’ Rosie Price, author of What Red Was
‘Startlingly intelligent, disturbing, profound and moving, I Choose Elena shows us that the #MeToo movement has grown roots, and that for survivors of rape and sexual assault, the revolution is just beginning. Osborne-Crowley gives us darkness wrought in light and the hope she offers is as palpable as it is hard-won.’ April Ayers Lawson, author of Virgin and Other Stories
‘This book burrowed deep under my skin. A searing, potent testament to the vital necessity of articulation in the struggle for women to own their bodies and find a language to talk about violence and trauma.’ Jessica Andrews, author of Saltwater
‘A fierce, eloquent meditation on trauma, #MeToo, the body, pain and memory.’ Sinéad Gleeson, author of Constellations
‘If you buy one book today let it be this one . . . it moved me to tears and to anger.’ Daisy Johnson
‘Beautiful and sad and moving and too real in the finest way.’ Una Mullally, columnist, The Irish Times
What are the right questions to ask when seeking out the true spirit of a nation?
In November 2017 the people of Zimbabwe took to the streets in an unprecedented alliance with the military. Their goal, to restore the legacy of Chimurenga, the liberation struggle, and wrest their country back from over thirty years of Robert Mugabe’s rule.
In an essay that combines bold reportage, memoir and critical analysis, Zimbabwean novelist and journalist Panashe Chigumadzi reflects on the ‘coup that was not a coup’, the telling of history and manipulation of time and the ancestral spirts of two women – her own grandmother and Mbuya Nehanda, the grandmother of the nation.
Praise
‘Chigumadzi successfully nests the intimate charge of her poignant personal story in the sweeping historical account and mythology of Zimbabwe.’ Brian Chikwava, author of Harare North
‘Chigumadzi’s exploration of personal, family and national history reincarnates in stark, vivid images, many of those interred in the shadows of her country’s ‘Big Men’.’ Tsitsi Dangarembga, author of Nervous Conditions and This Mournable Body
