Book Review Outline

General marking criteria and other useful information can be found on the 'Assessments'

page on Canvas. Please see the module handbook for details on assessment (submission

dates, word counts, referencing and submission).

What is a book review?

An academic book review is more than a book report or summary of a book's contents.

Rather than just proving that you read the book (which is assumed!), you need to show that

you can think critically about what you've read, and consider how it contributes to

discussions in Gender and Feminist Politics.

Who am I writing for?

You should write for yourself before you began the module. I.e. someone interested in the

topic and familiar with academic discussion, but without (necessarily) particular expertise in

this field. It is very important that you work on presenting your ideas clearly. Make sure you

reference correctly and give yourself plenty of time to proofread. This should mean that you

can correct typos, as well as identify any sections that would benefit from rewriting.

Do I need to read other material?

Yes! Your book review will be strongest if you do some further reading around the topic. A

good place to start is with some of the textbooks (for example the Finlay you read in w1),

which will help you situate the book in the broader field of Feminist Political Theory. You

can then move on to have a look at some of the pieces that are cited heavily in the book you

are reviewing (both those they are agreeing with, and those they are critiquing). Another

way to find further relevant literature is to do some 'keyword searches' on google scholar

(we will demonstrate this in the Book Review Workshop)./nHow do I structure it?

Introduction

Approx. 200 words

Contextualisation

Approx. 200 words

Main Discussion

Approx. 900 words

Briefly introduce the theme or topic of the

work generally and the author's purpose in

writing/thesis/argument.

Briefly identify the context that the book

was written in. Who is its intended

audience? What political 'scene' does it

intervene in? Are there other 'key thinkers'

in this area?

Summarise and then critically engage with

the major points the book makes:

How is the book structured?

What are the key points?

What kinds of evidence does the

author use?

• How do the points they make

•

•/nConclusion

Approx. 200 words

support the author's overall

argument?

What are its strengths?

• What are its weaknesses?

Overall, do you think the book was

successful? Did you like it? Who do you

think would find it useful to read?/nBook Review Choices

Please note that links to library copies of these books is

provided on the reading list for the course found under

POLI257 on the library website. Please choose one of

these books to review.

Ahmed, S. (2013). The cultural politics of emotion.

Routledge.

Butler, J. (2002). Gender trouble. Routledge.

Celis, K., & Childs, S. (2020). Feminist democratic

representation. Oxford University Press.

Davis, A. Y. (2011). Women, race, & class. Vintage.

Faye, S. (2022). The transgender issue: An argument for

justice. Verso Books.

Federici, S. (2004). Caliban and the Witch.

Autonomedia.

Olufemi, L. (2020). Feminism, interrupted: disrupting

power. Pluto Press.

Phipps, A. (2020). Me, not you: The trouble with

mainstream feminism. Manchester University Press.

Roberts, D. E. (1999). Killing the black body: Race,

reproduction, and the meaning of liberty. Vintage.