We are excited to share that the latest issue of Feminist Formations (36.2 Summer 2024) has been published, featuring a remarkable dossier of five essays reflecting on Professor Amanda Swarr's groundbreaking book Envisioning African Intersex. This special collection highlights the book as a major resource for critical intersex studies, African studies, feminist studies, and post/decolonial studies.
Contributors Tushabe wa Tushabe, Xavier Livermon, Hil Malatino, David Rubin, and B Camminga offer insightful reflections on Swarr's work. The dossier also includes a response essay by Swarr titled “The Unacknowledged Presence of Intersex: Citational Chains and the Stakes of Fights Over Sex.” David Rubin, the dossier's editor, notes that Swarr’s scholarship powerfully emphasizes how Western ideas about sex and gender are shaped by racialized and colonial histories, particularly through the lens of South African medicine. He writes:
"More forcefully than almost any other scholar working in critical intersex studies and African studies, Swarr emphasizes that Western ideas about sex and gender are always produced through racialized and colonial epistemologies and histories of material and discursive violence."
The special issue is live on Project MUSE. We encourage you to explore this inspiring collective effort and its timely reflections on the intersections of intersex medicalization, power, and history.
Congratulations to Professor Amanda Swarr on this incredible achievement!