'Remarkable . . . this book is the hope that so many people are searching for' Zimmer Magazine

To complain is an intimate, dangerous act. Whether it’s speaking up about racism in the workplace or taking a stand against sexual harassment at university, the act of complaining to an institution can leave you isolated and undermined, all while the original injustice remains unresolved. Time and time again, we see these unanswered complaints compound to disastrous effect.

In No is Not a Lonely Utterance, Sara Ahmed dissects the anatomy of a complaint, revealing how institutions create hostile environments that stigmatize complainers, and charts a way we can listen to grievances with ‘feminist ears’: going beyond mere validation and seeking instead to address the root causes of injustice and inequality.

Weaving together testimonies from various walks of life, Ahmed shows us what we learn about the ways institutions exercise their power when complaints are raised, and indeed what we learn about our capacity to collectivize and create social bonds through complaint. In doing so, she inspires us to create better environments for our life’s work.

A must-read . . . Ahmed does an excellent job of calling the reader to action whilst pointing out that solidarity and resistance look like different things to different people -- Ashley * Glasgow Women's Library *
Remarkable . . . has the potential to generate real change. In a world that is so turbulent and unpredictable, this book is the hope that so many people are searching for -- Ellie Johnson * Zimmer Magazine *
Praise for Sara Ahmed -- - * : *
Sara Ahmed always has her finger on the pulse of the times -- Angela Davis
A brilliant feminist thinker... Ahmed moves from scene to scene with clarity, rage, and joy, building through each refrain to mark the brutal violence of everyday encounters -- Judith Butler
Clever and generous... has a talent for bringing her readers with her, without ever dumbing down or sugar-coating her politics, love of theory, or lived experience as a queer woman of colour -- Zora Simic * Inside Story *

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