False Choices
The Faux Feminism of Hillary Rodham Clinton
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Hillary Rodham Clinton is one of the most powerful women in world politics, and the irrational right-wing hatred of Clinton has fed her progressive appeal, helping turn her into a feminist icon. To get a woman in the White House, it’s thought, would be an achievement for all women everywhere, a kind of trickle-down feminism.
In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, the mantle of feminist elect has descended on Hillary Clinton, as a thousand viral memes applaud her, and most mainstream feminist leaders, thinkers, and organizations endorse her. In this atmosphere, dissent seems tantamount to political betrayal.
In False Choices, an all-star lineup of feminists contests this simplistic reading of the candidate. A detailed look at Hillary Clinton’s track record on welfare, Wall Street, criminal justice, education, and war reveals that she has advanced laws and policies that have done real harm to the lives of women and children across the country and the globe. This well-researched collection of essays restores to feminism its revolutionary meaning, and outlines how it could transform the United States and its relation to the world.
Includes essays from prominent feminist writers Liza Featherstone, Laura Flanders, Moe Tkacik, Medea Benjamin, Frances Fox Piven and Fred Block, Donna Murch, Kathleen Geier, Yasmin Nair, Megan Erickson, Tressie McMillan Cottom, Catherine Liu, Amber A’Lee Frost, Margaret Corvid, Belén Fernández, Zillah Eisenstein, and others.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This essay collection edited by Featherstone (Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Workers' Rights at Wal-Mart) will be intensely engrossing for Hillary Clinton's left-wing opponents and for left-leaning readers still on the fence. The contributors, including Frances Fox Piven, Catherine Liu, and Medea Benjamin, track Clinton's political career from her high school support for the conservative Barry Goldwater to her recent presidential campaign positioning herself as a feminist. The powerfully critical essays reject the "ruling class feminism" of Clinton in favor of a "left feminism rooted in an understanding of women's material conditions." They examine the neoliberal policies she's supported, including Bill Clinton's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families act, which put a cap on welfare; the North American Free Trade Agreement; and the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act. Based on this track record, Kathleen Geier argues that Clinton practices "business-oriented diplomacy." Other contributors cite Clinton's approaches to welfare, immigration, criminal justice, and education, while Medea Benjamin points out her aggressive posture as secretary of state, seen in Afghanistan and Libya. Each selection here is cogently argued, adding up to a damning portrait of both Clinton and American politics.
