Antifeminism and Family Terrorism: A Critical Feminist Perspective

Rhonda Hammer's Antifeminism and Family Terrorism presents provocative critical feminist perspectives on violence against women and children. Hammer provides insightful analyses of the current rhetoric produced by antifeminists who would deny the seriousness of the problem and thus undercut important feminist concerns. Responding to the ongoing backlash against feminism and feminist impersonators like Camille Paglia and Christina Hoff Sommers, Hammer documents the tragic dimensions of the brutalization of women and children in the family, and the larger problem of the increasing poverty and oppression of women and children in the global economy. It is within this context that Hammer also critiques those mainstream feminist approaches that personalize, psychologize, and/or depoliticize what she calls "family terrorism." This concept articulates the familial, societal, political, economic, and now global dimensions of violence against women and children. The book demonstrates the need for a critical and dialectical approach that draws upon colonization theory and Borderland feminism to help develop a transformative feminist theory and practice.