A call to reject neoliberalism and its destructive personal and social forms

At a time when women are being exhorted to "lean in" and work harder to get aheadLetting Go: Feminist and Social Justice Insight and Activism encourages both women and men to "let go" instead. The book explores alternatives to the belief that individual achievement, accumulation, and attention-seeking are the road to happiness and satisfaction in life. Letting go demands a radical recognition that the values, relationships, and structures of our neoliberal (competitive, striving, accumulating, consuming, exploiting, oppressive) society are harmful both on a personal level and, especially important, on a social and environmental level.

There is a huge difference between letting go and "chilling out." In a lean-in society, self-care is promoted as something women and men should do to learn how to "relax" and find a comfortable work-life balance. By contrast, a feminist letting-go and its attendant self-care have the potential to be a radical act of awakening to social and environmental injustice and a call to activism.

Introduction

Letting Go Feminism: Reconnecting Self-Care and Social Justice
Catherine (Kay) G. Valentine

Theoretical Perspectives

Toward a Feminist Theory of Letting Go
Donna King

On the Interdependence of Personal and Social Transformation
David R. Loy

Leaning In and Letting Go: Feminist Tools for Valuing Nonwork

Jennifer Randles

Letting Go of Normal when "Normal" is Pathological, or Why Feminism Is a Gift to Men
Robert Jensen

Personal Essays

When "Straight-Acting" Lost Its Luster: Letting Go of Masculine Privilege
Anthony C. Ocampo

The Gold Pen
Deborah J. Cohan

Whether Willing or Unwilling: The Personal, the Professional, and Two Years of Too Much
Meghan M. Sweeney

Letting Go: How Does a Feminist Retire?
Diane E. Levy

When Enough is Enough: African American Women Reclaiming Themselves
Shirley A. Jackson

Ethnographies

What to Let Go: Insights from Online Cervical Cancer Narratives
Tracy B. Citeroni

Stay-at-Home Fathers: Are Domestic Men Bucking Hegemonic Masculinity?
Steven Farough

From Retail Banking to Credit Counseling: Opting Out and Tuning In
Kevin J. Delaney

Keeping Up Appearances: Working Class Feminists Speak Out about the Success Model in Academia
Roxanne Gerbrandt and Liza Kurtz

Letting Go and Having Fun: Redefining Aging in America
Deana A. Rohlinger and Haley Gentile

Ecological Perspectives

Letting Go and Getting Real: Applying Buddhist Principles to Address Environmental Crisis
Janine Schipper

Consuming Violence: Oil and Food in Everyday Life
Patricia Widener

Growing Food, Growing Justice: Letting Go by Holding On to the Feminine Principle
Leontina Hormel and Ryanne Pilgeram

Visionary Feminism

Dig Deep: Beyond Lean In
bell hooks