Three Feminists on Fear, Love and Liberation
Idil Issa and Yara El-Ghadban join Alexa Conradi in conversation for the launch of her book Fear, Love, and Liberation in Contemporary Quebec.
In response to rapid and unsettling social, economic, and climate changes, fearmongering now features as a main component of public life. Right-wing nationalist populism has become a hallmark of politics around the world. No less so in Quebec.
In Fear, Love, and Liberation in Contemporary Quebec, Conradi invites us to take off our rose-coloured glasses and to examine Quebec’s sore spots. Through her personal reflections on Quebec politics and culture, she calls for a rethinking of politics of solidarity.
Idil Issa has worked in the startup and nonprofit space in Qatar, Malaysia, South Africa, and Canada. She writes frequently for outlets such as the Globe and Mail, Esquire Malaysia, COLORS Magazine, and Maisonneuve Magazine, among others, on issues touching race, religion, and gender. She appears regularly on media outlets such as CBC & CTV to advocate for the rights of marginalized and oppressed populations, with a focus on the intersectional experiences of Muslim women in general and Muslim women of color in particular.
Palestinian-Canadian novelist and anthropologist, Yara El-Ghadban lives and writes in Montreal. She published her first novel, L’ombre de l’olivier (2011) with les éditions Mémoire d’encrier as well as Le parfum de Nour in 2015. Her latest novel Je suis Ariel Sharon was published in September 2018. She is also the co-editor of the volume Le Québec, la Charte, l’Autre. Et après, published in 2014. Her most recent work as translator is Shakil Choudhury’s Vivre la diversité. Pour en finir avec le clivage eux/nous, translated from English and published in 2019 by Mémoire d’encrier. Along side her writing, Yara El-Ghadban is also co-founder and Board Director of the non-profit Espace de la diversité / Diversity District since 2016.
Alexa is best known for work as chair and spokeswoman of the Fédération des femmes du Québec (Quebec Women’s Federation) from 2009-2015. She is a founding member of Québec solidaire and acted as its first president from 2006-2009. With an MA in Communication Studies from Concordia University that focused on discourses of reconciliation, Alexa is committed to decolonization and true justice for indigenous people. Living in Germany, she works internationally as a freelancer.
BOOK REVIEWS “Alexa Conradi’s new book “Fear, Love, and Liberation in Contemporary Quebec” is a must read for anyone interested in the challenges of contemporary feminism. She explores some of the most difficult issues facing modern feminism through the lens of inclusion, challenging some of our old thinking and providing guidance based on a broad base of personal and intellectual knowledge in a most accessible and enjoyable form.” – Judy Rebick
“It’s a brave person who dares to shine a light into the corners of Quebec society, uncovering contradictions and flaws that so many would rather deny exist. Feminist and activist Alexa Conradi has never been one to shy away from difficult topics. The Anglophone Quebecer, who learned to love and live comfortably with the other solitude, is sure to make some readers angry with this well-written,thoroughly documented book, mais tant mieux!” – Sue Montgomery, Mayor of CDN-NDG, Montreal and co-creator of #BeenRapedNeverReported
“Analyzing the problems of Quebec society, from a feminist decolonial perspective, the author proposes a critical vision largely nourished by her activist experience and appropriately invites to address the hard questions and thus raise the level of public debate.” – Diane Lamoureux, Associate Professor, Université Laval
The book is the English translation of Les angles morts, published by Les Éditions du remue-ménage.
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