thank you to columbia university press for the advanced copy!

this is a book i’d like to sit with for a long time, to reread over and over, just because there is so much to process.

i’ve read many of the texts anidjar is in dialogue with, especially carole pateman’s the sexual contract, which has haunted me from my first year of undergraduate studies., almost ten years ago now, and adrienne rich’s of woman born, which contextualizes the concept of motherhood as an institution, that prefaces my interest in this new perspective on the social contract.

anidjar writes in the convoluted style of derrida, playing with language and meaning in long run on sentences. it makes for beautiful sentences but difficult to understand ideas. his annotated notes, which are easier to read, are almost as interesting as the argument itself.

i recommend the book if you are writing a dissertation in the field of classical liberal theory, sovereignty, or political feminism. there is no other scenario where i would recommend sitting through it. i enjoyed the book wholly, but i understand how niche this combination of research interests is.

On the Sovereignty of Mothers comprises essays on the politics of being a mother.
As much as I appreciate the themes and topics covered, and the discussion that maternity is political, I struggled a bit with the prose.
A bit ironically as it may be, I found some of my favourite information and insights in the Notes, especially when Anidjar was opening a caveat.
I suppose, partly, I did not fully grasp all of the discussions in this book yet.