Radical Intimacy

'A clarion voice from a new generation of British feminists' — Sophie Lewis, author of Abolish the Family

'Made me reconsider so many of the cultural scripts I've been fed my whole life. Unsparing, important and hopeful’ — Annie Lord, Vogue columnist and author of Notes on Heartbreak

‘Excellent ... Radical Intimacy points towards the long and difficult path to a kinder, better future’ — Los Angeles Review of Books

Capitalist ideology wants us to believe that there is an optimal way to live. 'Making connections' means networking for work. Our emotional needs are to be fulfilled by a single romantic partner, and self-care equates to taking personal responsibility for our suffering. We must be productive and heterosexual, we must have babies and buy a house. But the kicker is most people cannot and do not want to achieve these goals. Instead we are left feeling atomised, exhausted and disempowered.

Radical Intimacy shows that it doesn't need to be this way. Including inspiring ideas for alternative ways to live, Sophie K Rosa demands we use our radical imagination to discover a new form of intimacy.

Including critiques of the 'wellness' industry that ignores rising poverty rates, the mental health crisis and racist and misogynist state violence; transcending love and sex under capitalism to move towards feminist, decolonial and queer thinking; asking whether we should abolish the family; interrogating the framing of ageing and death and much more, Radical Intimacy is the compassionate antidote to a callous society.

Sophie K. Rosa is a writer and freelance journalist. She has written for Novara Media, Guardian, Buzzfeed, VICE, Al Jazeera, Aeon and CNN. In 2018, she was openDemocracy's feminist investigative journalism fellow, producing a series of articles tracking the backlash against women's and LGBTQIA+ rights.