Transnational Feminist Itineraries: Situating Theory and Activist Practice.

• Author: Zentella, Yoly
• Position: GENERAL STUDIES

Tambe, A. and M. Thayer, eds. Transnational Feminist Itineraries: Situating Theory and Activist Practice. Durham: Duke University Press, 2021.

Transnational Feminist Itineraries is an edited volume of feminist-focused writings that connect solidarity and the shared and diverse goals of universal movements within the context of confronting and countering violence and injustice against women. The volume is appropriate for academics, researchers, doctoral students, and those well versed in analytical writing and terminology. It is not for the general lay reader.

The expertise of the editors, Tambe and Thayer, is evident in the assemblage of writings. Both editors are active in women, gender, and sexuality studies. Tambe is also associate professor in sociology studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, and educational director of Feminist Studies, a journal of interdisciplinary feminist scholarship in the United States. Thayer is associate professor in sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and is affiliated with the Center for Latin America, Caribbean, and Latino Studies.

Transnational Feminist Itineraries is a platform for voices discussing complex issues, both existing and emergent, outside Euro-American power spaces. Here, transnational is not perceived as "elsewhere" but instead as globally inclusive, a collective vision working toward a consistently just future for the female gender. The collection of articles in this volume reflects a gathering of scholarship with settings in North and South America, Africa, Australia, and Asia. This collection continues decades of evolving transnational feminism thought, adding to contemporary analysis and activism in the field. Seeds of thought reach back to the Women's Worlds Conference in Brazil, 2017.

Arranged thematically in five sections, writings describe problem areas in the lives of women and girls that challenge the reader. Each section includes articles addressing connecting issues, contexts, and spaces. For example, in section four, Intractable Dilemmas, Naples and Bernstein's article, "Reproductive justice and the contradiction of international surrogacy claims by gay men in Australia," addresses conundrums embedded in the desire by gay men for parenthood, and its relation to women's reproductive rights free of exploitation within the surrogate role. Naples and Bernstein clearly describe the need to recognize the privileged status of those seeking commercial...