Trans Femme Futures: An Abolitionist Ethic for Transfeminist Worlds

Poet, activist, and scholar Raha (Apparitions) and artist/theorist van der Drift (Queer Gaze) are coeditors of the zine Radical Transfeminism. Their book asks readers to visualize a future when trans life and transfeminism are not centered on pushing back against cultural forces that seek to erase them or their experiences. The authors propose creating a nurturing culture that centers collective action, generosity, and mutual aid. They reckon with the ethics and implications of caregiving within the context of a neoliberal sociopolitical system. They envision a more inclusive, radically supportive world and examine what it means to separate the work of caregiving from institutions and focus on collectives and mutual aid, and how a trans femme ethos can provide a supportive environment that improves lives. The book suggests that readers build skills, share experiences, and form a solidarity that is fundamentally hopeful and forward-looking. The text is dense at times and uses specialized language and concepts that may not be immediately familiar to casual readers, but the argument is worth reading.