‘No! The Art and Activism of Complaining’
The Annual Catherine Silverstone Lecture
with Sara Ahmed
A complaint is how we say no, how we refuse to acquiesce to a situation. We might say no to a harasser and to the institution that enables harassment. But saying no within an institution, or to one, is no simple matter. It often leads to being shut out or shut down. In this lecture, I explore how no is a small word with a lot of work to do; or how we have a lot of work to do to keep it going. Even when a no shuts a door, that no can be passed down and picked up by others. A no can be how we clarify our projects and find our people. I will be drawing on my forthcoming book, No is Not a Lonely Utterance: The Art and Activism of Complaining.
Sara Ahmed is an independent queer feminist scholar of colour. Her work is concerned with how power is experienced and challenged in everyday life and institutional cultures. Her most recent book is The Feminist Killjoy Handbook (Allen Unwin, 2023). Previous books include Complaint! (2021), What's The Use? On the Uses of Use (2019) and Living a Feminist Life (2017), all published by Duke University Press. She has just completed a new book, No Is Not a Lonely Utterance: The Art and Activism of Complaining, which is coming out with Allen Unwin later this year. She blogs at feministkilljoys.com and has a newsletter https://feministkilljoys.substack.com/. You can also find her on bluesky @saranahmed.bsky.social and instagram @feministkilljoyatwork
There will be brief introductions by: Martin O’Brien, Dominic Johnson, and Jen Harvie. The event will be followed by a wine reception.