Killing Radicalism: Anti-Rape Advocacy Reimagined
Schedule
Tue, 07 Apr, 2026 at 06:30 pm
UTC-05:00Location
1900 NW Expy Ste 135, Oklahoma City, OK, United States, Oklahoma 73118 | Oklahoma City, OK
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Join us for a presentation by Melinda Chen, an assistant professor in the Department of Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Oklahoma and the author of Killing Radicalism, a compelling new book that asks: "What is victim advocacy when regulated by the government?" Victim advocates have long served as the designated support people for survivors of sexual violence. But in the neoliberal era, advocates no longer work at independent collectives supporting survivors through whatever means necessary, but instead operate at rape crisis centers, government-funded agencies with strict policies on the uses of their funding. Chen argues that pressures from governmental granting agencies onto rape crisis centers have compelled advocates to turn away from their responsibility of challenging intersectional violence and instead lean into normative interpretations of rape and survivorship, hurting the most marginalized of victims.
Killing Radicalism demonstrates that even the most well-intentioned anti-rape activists can inadvertently harm survivors when they forgo an intersectional critique of the oppressive social and institutional structures around them. Through interviews with advocates from over 50 rape crisis centers, and drawing from her own experience as an advocate, Chen examines how neoliberalism affects anti-rape advocacy today. She shows that through everyday activities like grant writing or the compilation of survey data, advocates can inadvertently force victims out of the post-rape process through small-scale acts suggesting that they are not worthy victims.
Chen asks advocates to reconsider their relationship to racial and other marginalized peoples' movements to reimagine a radical politics that can resist hegemonic and normative state powers. Ultimately, this book is a wake-up call for advocates and scholars to reexamine their approaches to anti-violence work and prioritize the needs of all survivors.
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Where is it happening?
1900 NW Expy Ste 135, Oklahoma City, OK, United States, Oklahoma 73118Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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