I reached out to the philosopher Judith Butler last year, not long after I wrote an article titled “I Am A Sexist,” as the #MeToo movement was in full swing. I hoped to get an unvarnished critique of the essay. I got much more: A bracing and profound exchange that led to this interview and the reminder that violence against women, in its many forms, is a global tragedy.
Judith Butler is known for her decades of work in philosophy, feminism and activism worldwide. A professor in the department of comparative literature and the program of critical theory at the University of California, Berkeley, she is the author of numerous influential books, including “Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly” and the forthcoming book, “The Force of Non-Violence.” The interview was conducted by email.
George Yancy: I know you are familiar with the multinational activist movement Ni Una Menos. The movement, which spans several countries in Latin America, is fighting many forms of violence, in particular femicide, which is the intentional killing of women and girls because of their gender. (One example: In Argentina, one woman is said to be murdered every 30 hours.) In the United States, of course, we have the #MeToo movement. What do you make of these different but similar mobilizations?
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Judith Butler: It is important to underscore that there are many feminisms right now (as there have always been) and they differ in regard to their focus and framework. Ni Una Menos is a movement that has brought millions of women into the street across Latin America to fight violence against women, trans people and the indigenous. The slogan “not one less” means that not one more woman will be lost to violence.
Importantly, this is a call that is uttered by a collective: “Not another one will be lost from the class of women, this expanding collective that resists the violence directed against them.” But also: “As women, we will not lose another life.” The movement is not based on a narrow idea of identity, but is a strong and intensifying coalition that draws support from women and trans people who are workers, who belong to unions and churches, who may or may not have any relation to universities.
The fierce collective opposition to the killing of women is paramount, but this is also violence against trans people, especially trans women, and “las travestis” (who do not always identify as trans). That is why it is sometimes referred to as a movement against “feminicidio” — all those who are feminized or regarded as feminine. This is important because it is not just that murder is committed on the basis of gender; violence against women is one way of establishing the femininity of the victim. The violence seeks to secure the class of women as killable, dispensable; it is an attempt to define the very existence of women’s lives as something decided by men, as a masculine prerogative.
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