Feminism is Universal: Feminisms, a Global History, by Lucy Delop

2020 will turn out to be a crucial year for many things, one of them without a doubt will be that it constitutes a crossroads, an upheaval in the world of feminism brought about by the encroachment of self ID of transsexuals and its consequences for all women. In this of all years, this text presents a much-needed trot through of the history of feminism. Here, for example, the reader will discover the origin of, and the different meanings given to terms like “patriarchy”, why feminists have always placed special significance on spaces, and the views and concerns of prominent feminists on women as consumers.

A special strength of this book is the effort it makes to present the feminisms in different continents, the reader will be exposed to the ideas of Japanese, Brazilian, Nigerian, and Indian, feminists among many others. This gives the lie to the frequently made accusation that feminism is an exclusively Westernised movement formed by white women.

The illustrations deserve a paragraph on themselves they are not only biographical, but cultural. It is interesting for example to see a portrait of a gathering of Japanese feminist group in the early 20th century. 

All in all I could not recommend this more highly. It is interesting, it is engaging and once you finish it you will have a better idea of the many forms that feminism has taken, in both space and time, and may yet take.

Once again, many thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read an early version of this text.