Out of the Fog: On Politics, Feminism and Coming Alive
From racialised police brutality to climate change, #MeToo, ‘trans rights’, COVID-19, the prospect of nuclear war and the prevalence of trauma – we are constantly bombarded with high stakes problems that we are expected to speak out about and act on. On closer inspection, the popular solutions to each of these problems aren’t easy to reconcile. Black Lives Matter activists demand prison abolition, while #MeToo feminists want rapists in jail – and while our objections to war and police brutality make us suspicious of state institutions in general, our responses to climate change and COVID-19 reinforce our dependency on them.
Out of the Fog cuts through the confusion. Renée Gerlich suggests that readers move beyond feeling overwhelmed and emotionally manipulated. She draws on a radical feminist tradition that demonstrates how our despair is connected to our most pressing social problems, and offers a framework for assessing and interpreting the current political landscape.
Out of the Fog delivers clarity and guidance in this bewildering time. Renée Gerlich’s insights will help you develop the capacity to speak with an authentic voice and to act purposefully and with impact in the world.
...understanding how our private heartbreak relates to our large-scale problems is the only way we can unravel the helplessness we feel, claim our voices, and take action in the way we deeply crave. We cannot do any of these things while living with the cognitive dissonance of competing ideas, priorities, solutions, and top-down paternalism.
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2022 | ISBN 9781925950540 | Paperback | 152 mm x 228 mm | 252 pages
Watch the launch of Out of the Fog on YouTube.
Women's Liberation Radio News interviews Renée about her new book, Out of the Fog: On Politics, Feminism and Coming Alive. Watch on YouTube now.
Listen to Renée on An American Conversation Podcast on YouTube.
Renée has appeared on the Subject to Power podcast a few times. Click here to listen to her.
On Subject to Power Host Elle Kamihira discusses how did women of the world end up subjugated, exploited and at the bottom of all social orders? What is universal male domination doing to humanity and our planet? Read more here.
Watch this Green Flame interview with Renee Gerlich that celebrates the publication of Out Of The Fog: On Politics, Feminism and Coming Alive (Spinifex Press, 2022). Renee is a writer, artist and feminist based out of New Zealand. The Green Flame focuses on the coming alive aspect of Renee's life and her new multidimensional book.
Read now. Renée Gerlich outlines how we are robbed of the natural urge to feel compassion by cultural expectations in her new book Out of the Fog. This talk was given by Renée Gerlich, during the online launch of her new book, Out of the Fog: On Politics, Feminism and Coming Alive (link above)
Reviews
The brutal reality of waking up daily to mass shootings, pornified rape culture, wars, massacres, and environmental catastrophes causes all of us to exist in a state of constant, low-level trauma, disconnected from our bodies and feelings. This “fog” we live in can be lifted and we can “come alive” if we take responsibility for ourselves as individuals in this life, and continue to analyze, think and take part in the great conversations of our times. Gerlich and her book certainly do that. It was a joy to read.
—Thistle Pettersen, Women’s Liberation Radio News. Read the full review here.…the experience of being shunned by those around her, including other feminists, led her to realize that her work needed to include caring about her own life and needs and centering the work that was central to both. This, for Gerlich, led to discovering authentic power, “that which cannot be taken or denied.” Gerlich’s journey encourages us to find our own authentic power and her writing helps us find our own answers, too.
—Lynn Sall, Rain and ThunderFIVE STAR AMAZON READER REVIEW This engaging read is replete with meaningful references to those who’ve studied our culture well and have the wisdom to share. 'Out of the Fog' clarifies the root causes of cultural fogginess, determines a way out and reassures us that the capacity to live in reality is a precious treasure.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter One: My Story
Chapter Two: Desire and Distortion
Chapter Three: Rebellion and Backlash
Chapter Four: Fatal Contradictions
Chapter Five: Cassandra’s Power
Bibliography
Index