The phrase “educate yourself” is frequently heard in activist circles on the internet – yet ‘education’ is oftentimes not accessible or can be confusing and intimidating at first glance!
Here, I will put together a collection of resources on feminism/women’s liberation and other social justice issues which I personally recommend and works recommended to me by others.
If you have any suggestions, please get in touch!
Free and cheap ways to learn:
World of Books is a second-hand book marketplace I personally recommend, though Ebay is also always good. I’ve also heard good things about Abe Books.
Though university libraries have many resources, if you are not in uni or cannot access certain works, the Open Library Internet Archive has quite a good variety and sign up is free. I have been recommended Library Genesis and Anna’s Archive also, though these seem to require ad-blockers or redirect you to other sites, they are still worth checking out.
The Marxist Internet Library Archive has open access to many socialist and anti-capitalist works – they also have archives of old documents and other primary sources which is very helpful for any history students!
This RadFem Archive is not as complete but does contain some important works, including all of Andrea Dworkin’s works!
Expecting people to read long, repetitive academic works, which use waffle-y language to ‘educate themselves’ is problematic – and there are plenty of other ways of raising your awareness of social issues, for example with videos and podcasts.
Though they focus a bit more on pop-culture commentary from a political/feminist lens, I love both Shanspeare and Jordan Theresa’s video essays on Youtube.
Click here for my Recommended Books
Some of my favourite works that I will upload the best bits of soon:
Why Women are Blamed for Everything: Exposing the Culture of Victim-Blaming – Dr. Jessica Taylor (2020)
Men Who Hate Women – Laura Bates
A Room of One’s Own – Virginia Woolf
More coming soon…
all things feminist 