Epilogue On Retraining the Senses

In “Conclusion 1” of Living a Feminist Life, Sara Ahmed describes what she calls her “Killjoy Survival Kit,” that depository of books, objects, tools, and people, among other things, that sustain her in the face of the often exhausting, sometimes joyous, never-ending struggle against the forms of intersectional gender injustice meted out by white heteropatriarchy. Every feminist, Ahmed suggests, should have such a kit containing “those things that are necessary for your survival” (Ahmed, 2017, p. 236). That might include books that uplift and inspire, objects that remind you of work done and call you back to work that is unfinished, tools that can be used to dismantle and others to rebuild, and even feelings like anger and frustration or the adamant refusal to be grateful for the mostly symbolic gains that traffic under the sign of “progress” (Ahmed, 2017, pp. 235–249). This Collexion of articles, Critical Exchanges, and reviews published in Contemporary Political Theory between 2019 and 2023 has now been added to mine.