Making Trouble

What happens when angry young rebels become wary older women, raging in a leaner, meaner time: a time which exalts only the “new,” when the ruling orthodoxy daily disparages everything associated with the “old”? Delving into her own life and those who left their mark on it, Lynne Segal journeys through time to consider her generation of female dreamers, the experiences that formed them, what they have left to the world, and how they are remembered in a period when pessimism pervades public life. Searching for answers, she studies her family history, sexual awakening, and ethnicity, as well as the peculiarities of the time and place that shaped her political journey, with all its urgency, significance, pleasures and absurdities.“A moving defence of the pleasures and pains of human solidarity.”
—Melissa Benn, Guardian

“A fascinating record of the changing face of socialism and feminism, observed with poignancy and acuity … a woman of worth.”
—Independent

“Funny, poignant, courageous and combative, Making Trouble teems with insights on the culture and politics of the last four decades … A book for young rebels of all ages.”
—Sheila Rowbotham

“An engrossing tale … an account of the rich contribution that second-wave feminism has made to modern Britain.”
—Times Higher Education

“Required reading … Given today’s political climate, Segal’s writing is as relevant as ever.”
—V Magazine

Lynne Segal is Anniversary Professor of Psychology and Gender Studies in the Department of Psychosocial Studies at Birkbeck College. Her books include Is the Future Female? Troubled Thoughts on Contemporary Feminism; Slow Motion: Changing Masculinities, Changing Men; and Straight Sex: Rethinking the Politics of Pleasure. She co-wrote Beyond the Fragments: Feminism and the Making of Socialism with Sheila Rowbotham and Hilary Wainwright.