Wild Politics: Feminism, Globalisation and Biodiversity

Previous edition was listed in Best Books of 2002, Australian Book Review

 Endorsements

A work of breathtaking erudition.
—Diane Bell

Susan Hawthorne has written an inspiring book, drawing on feminist and Indigenous knowledge to critique global capitalist practice and create a vision of a regenerative world sustaining the environment and its people.
—Prue Hyman, author Women and Economics

Reviews

'I am left with the thought that there can be no great change that is not preceded by grand vision. And this is the ultimate strength of Wild Politics.'

–Shira Tarrant, Journal of Intercultural Studies, USA

For anyone concerned with opposing these axes of oppression, the systematic critique presented in Wild Politics is invaluable. The book is written in a fluent and accessible style and offers a substantial bibliography. It is a book of interest not only to scholars but to activists. Because of its accessible synthesis of a vast amount of material concerning global economics, I would particularly recommend it for use in undergraduate women's studies units and in other programs involving feminist and ecofeminist approaches to economics and politics. I would hope that it would also reach other readers who would allow the evidence it offers to challenge and change their views.

–Anne Elvey, Research Associate in the Centre for Women's Studies and Gender Research at Monash University

'Wild Politics provides an inspiring antidote … by giving a feminist critique of our present world, an explanation of the structures that enable exploitation and an amazing range of actions by women, peasants, farmers, workers, everywhere who defy the globalization paradigm and connect to our common humanity and natural commons … This is the book I wish I had written myself.' 

–Theresa Wolfwood, Our Paper, Canada

'Hawthorne offers a comprehensive critique of globalization and the international (patriarchal capitalist) political economy. I was fascinated by Hawthorne’s title and her explanation of the title. And while reading, I felt that Hawthorne’s definition of “wild politics” provides a useful framework for birth activists seeking to define birth as it should be, and for restructuring the current maternity system as it should be: un-medicalised, un-industrialised, pure, natural, powerful, womun’s, wild!'

–Sazz Eaton, Sazz's Blog

'[Wild Politics]  is not a blueprint for change but rather a step in the direction of imagining a world 'that might operate differently'... It has to date been lauded as a scathing critique of Western liberalism and economic globalisation, but it also offers much more: a way forward for feminist theory and activism in the 21st Century.' 

–Meagan Tyler, Melbourne Journal of Politics

'There are ideas expressed in this book that I disagree with … but even where I disagree with Susan Hawthorne, it is with confidence that she would accept my views as a valid part of the conversation to find a way to live in harmony with the earth. This is an all too rare feeling when reading about a truly radical approach to responding to capitalism and the destruction of the earth too many of us share responsibility for. I am excited by this work. It is well researched, weaving together the theoretical and practical in inspiring ways. In Wild Politics poems and photographs are as important to the bringing forward of ideas as are charts, graphs and statistics helping bring to life a thoughtful analysis slowly crafted together from studies, legal cases, conferences and direct experience with movements involved in social transformation.'

–Altar Magazine, USA

'[Wild Politics] is that rare combination, both intellectually rigorous ... and clearly readable.'

–Carol Anne Douglas, Off Our Backs, USA

'One of the many gifts of Susan Hawthorne’s Wild Politics is the unrelenting analysis and illustration of ways neo-colonialism is promoted under the banner of Western liberalism and economic globalization  [She] challenges us to see the wild in ourselves, “in all of us, in our gardens, in laneways, in the canopies of trees, in city creeks, in marshlands and mangroves.” Her goal is to decolonize the Western imagination. // Books I care about engage me, offer me a rich menu of ideas for the uptake, argument and action. By this standard, Wild Politics is fabulous, and Susan Hawthorne has done us all a tremendous service.'

–Sarah Lucia Hoagland, Women’s Review of Books, USA

'I’m only half way through this book, but I am finding it compelling reading.'

–Jay, Broadsheet, Aoteroa/New Zealand

'An impressive and far sighted book which is thoroughly, and very thoughtfully researched. Susan Hawthorne writes with clarity, intelligence and humour.'

–Chain Reaction

‘The major achievement of this book is its multidisciplinary approach, the ‘multiversalist’ understanding of the world we live in, its drives and their upshots.’

–Patricia Bieszk, Traffic

'My new year passionate thought is to make the most of the remarkable book Wild Politics in extending our social ecology mission. This is the text I would have used as a core reference when teaching. It “should” become the equivalent of Das Kapital for this era.’

–Graham Bird, Culture Lab

'Wild Politics … is passionate in conception and broad in scope. It is multi-layered and richly esoteric, in the best sense of the word. It bristles with ideas and possible strategies. Its sweeping and damning judgments and insistent focus on the closely related crises that are building in environmental and human affairs make it compulsive reading. Like the Ancient Mariner’s fixed eye, the book compels you to give it all ... Above all, Wild Politics demonstrates that there are richly feminist ways of philosophising … A powerful feminist sensibility … informs every line in the book…'

–Allan Patience, Australian Book Review

'[Wild Politics] is a passionate book offering a kaleidoscope of ideas, arresting ways of seeing things, and possible solutions for many of the man-contrived environmental messes across the violated globe. Its barefaced audacity is its greatest attraction. Hawthorne has blazed a trail for others to follow.'

–Alan Patience, Best Books of 2002, Australian Book Review

‘Susan Hawthorne’s book is a major contribution, on several levels, to the definition of what we are fighting for’

–Liam Cranley, The Paper