Feminist killjoy survival and solidarities against institutional violence: a conversation between Sara Ahmed and Akanksha Mehta

This is an edited excerpt of a conversation between feminist scholars Sara Ahmed and Akanksha Mehta that took place on 8 March 2024 (International Women’s Day) at The Feminist Library in Peckham, South East London, UK. The gathering marked the release of the paperback version of Sara’s book The Feminist Killjoy Handbook, and was a space for building feminist queer solidarities. This conversation addresses themes of institutional violence in universities and higher education (particularly in the UK), thinking through the fights, tasks, tools, actions, and projects for surviving, mobilizing, and working in/against these institutions. In doing so, it centres larger feminist discussions on solidarity, resistance, pedagogy, organizing, complaints, and activism, and, of course, it remains haunted by past, continued, and unfolding violence.