22/04/2025
World-renowned academic and author Sara Ahmed, whose work has shaped many fields such as gender studies, feminist and queer theory, critical race theory, and whose books and articles have been translated into many languages, will deliver a talk on May 14th. The event will be hosted by Sabancı University Gender and Women’s Studies Center (SU Gender) in Istanbul.
Sara Ahmed will talk about her latest book "No Is Not a Lonely Utterance: The Art and Activism of Complaining" followed by a moderated discussion with questions from the audience.
Please find below a summary of Sara Ahmed's talk and program information. Registration is required to attend the talk.
“No! The Art and Activism of Complaining”, Sara Ahmed
Moderator: Zeynep Gülru Göker, Cenk Özbay
Date : May 14, 2025
Time : 17.00-19.00 (UTC+3)
Venue: Salt Galata, Oditoryum
Registration: https://bit.ly/Sara-Ahmed
* Simultaneous translation from English to Turkish will be provided.
No! The Art and Activism of Complaining
"A complaint is how we say no, how we refuse to acquiesce to a situation. We might say no to a harasser and to the institution that enables harassment. But saying no within an institution, or to one, is no simple matter. It often leads to being shut out or shut down. In this lecture, I explore how no is a small word with a lot of work to do; or how we have a lot of work to do to keep it going. Even when a no shuts a door, that no can be passed down and picked up by others. A no can be how we clarify our projects and find our people. I will be drawing on my forthcoming book, No is Not a Lonely Utterance: The Art and Activism of Complaining," says Sara Ahmed.
Sara Ahmed is an independent queer feminist scholar of colour. Her work is concerned with how power is experienced and challenged in everyday life and institutional cultures.
Her most recent book is The Feminist Killjoy Handbook (Allen Unwin, 2023). Previous books include Complaint! (2021), What's The Use? On the Uses of Use (2019) and Living a Feminist Life (2017), all published by Duke University Press. She has just completed a new book, No Is Not a Lonely Utterance: The Art and Activism of Complaining, which is coming out with Allen Unwin later this year. She blogs at feministkilljoys.com and has a newsletter https://feministkilljoys.substack.com/.
You can also find her on bluesky @saranahmed.bsky.social and instagram @feministkilljoyatwork