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Introduction: The Political Promise of Personal Narratives

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Speaking Out

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Abstract

The introduction outlines the core themes of the book through the story of Susan Brownmiller’s foundational feminist anti-rape polemic, Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape. While the book presents itself as a journalistic and historical account, this account is built on a foundation of personal narratives told in Brownmiller’s consciousness-raising group. The introduction traces their originary role in this text and, through it, in feminist anti-rape politics. It examines the reliance of feminist politics on personal narratives and the power dynamics that exist between feminist experts such as Brownmiller and the women whose stories they tell. The introduction finishes with a reflective account of my own relationship to the book and the stories told within it.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Law, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK

    Tanya Serisier

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  1. Tanya Serisier
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Serisier, T. (2018). Introduction: The Political Promise of Personal Narratives. In: Speaking Out. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98669-2_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98669-2_1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-98668-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-98669-2

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