Scream from the Shadows

<div> <p>More than forty years ago a women's liberation movement called <i>ūman ribu</i> was born in Japan amid conditions of radicalism violence and imperialist aggression. Setsu Shigematsu's book is the first to present a sustained history of <i>ūman ribu</i>'s formation its political philosophy and its contributions to feminist politics across and beyond Japan. Through an in-depth analysis of <i>ūman ribu</i> Shigematsu furthers our understanding of Japan's gender-based modernity and imperialism and expands our perspective on transnational liberation and feminist movements worldwide.</p> <p>In <i>Scream from the Shadows</i> Shigematsu engages with political philosophy while also contextualizing the movement in relation to the Japanese left and New Left as well as the anti-Vietnam War and radical student movements. She examines the controversial figure Tanaka Mitsu <i>ūman ribu</i>'s most influential activist and the movement's internal dynamics. Shigematsu highlights <i>ūman ribu</i>'s distinctive approach to the relationship of women-and women's liberation-to violence: specifically the movement's embrace of violent women who were often at the margins of society and its recognition of women's complicity in violence against other women.</p> <p><i>Scream from the Shadows</i> provides a powerful case study of a complex and contradictory movement with a radical vision of women's liberation. It offers a unique opportunity to reflect on the blind spots within our contemporary and dominant views of feminism across their liberal marxist radical Euro-American postcolonial and racial boundaries.<br></p> </div>