Grief as feminist praxis: Love, loss and memory in resistance

Ajour, Ashjan (2025) Grief as feminist praxis: Love, loss and memory in resistance. Feminist Theory. ISSN 1464-7001

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Abstract

This article examines grief, memory and love as feminist praxis situating intimate loss within the political context of Palestinian dispossession. In March 2025, I received the Emma Goldman Award in Vienna. This coincided with one of the most devastating periods of my life when weeks later, my father Najy Ajour died in Gaza amid genocide, still holding onto hope for reunion. While I carried recognition abroad, my family endured starvation, bombardment and loss. This collision between recognition and grief frames my argument: grief, memory and love operate as feminist praxis. Drawing on feminist scholarship, I propose a politics of memory that treats grief as insurgent, testimony as methodology and love as epistemology. Fragments he left behind, such as coffee saved for my mother and sisters, become wake work carrying memory and resisting erasure. By juxtaposing collective vulnerability in Vienna with the violence of colonization in Gaza, I emphasize the urgency of transnational feminist solidarity. This article advances feminist theory by positioning grief as a site of resistance, knowledge production and cross-border solidarity.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number:	10.1177/14647001251382434
Dates:	Date Event 17 October 2025 Published Online 1 October 2025 Accepted
Uncontrolled Keywords:	feminist praxis, grief, memory, Palestinian lives, resista
Subjects:	CAH15 - social sciences > CAH15-01 - sociology, social policy and anthropology > CAH15-01-02 - sociology
Divisions:	Law and Social Sciences > Criminology and Sociology > Sociology
Depositing User:	Gemma Tonks
Date Deposited:	11 Mar 2026 14:15
Last Modified:	11 Mar 2026 14:15
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16922

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