After Shock

This anthology, a feminist standpoint on the 9/11 terrorist attacks, engagescritical feminist voices to counteract the United States’ specious justificationsof hatred, violence, and vengeance against Afghanistan and Muslimsin general following the tragedy. The authors relate the preeminence andpolitics of the West to violence in the Middle East, parts of Asia, Africa, andSouth and Central America. Their objective is to deconstruct the hypocrisyentangled in the West’s politics, particularly the Bush administration’s unilateral,patriarchal, misogynist, and masculinist foreign policies and actionsthat help create and sustain terrorism. The authors also seek to show that9/11 is not the only act of terrorism; rather, there are different acts of terrorinflicted on innocent people globally.While many writings have condemned 9/11, only a few depictwomen’s perspectives. Much of the literature focuses on men’s viewsabout the war. Moreover, non-western women have hardly written anythingthat could be said to document feminist viewpoints on the war. AfterShock: September 11, 2001 – Global Feminist Perspectives reveals theinvisibility of women’s voices in condemning terrorism and in formulatingresponses to the terrorist attacks. The anthology utilizes the voices ofwomen from different nationalities, professions, and cultural backgrounds,and thus fills a significant gap: feminist voices on terror and war.This book is one of the most welcome developments in voicing women’sperspectives on terrorism.The anthology is divided into two parts. Part 1, “Reactions,” has threesections framed by three questions: “Whose Terrorism? 12 September to 7October; Whose War? 8 October to 13 November ; and Whose Peace? 14November to 8 March.” Captivating pieces in the first section include Robin ...