One of America's leading feminist voices examines the world of violence and terror, and asks why some lives are more valued than others. Through five essays, this book responds to various US policies to wage perpetual war, and calls for an understanding of how mourning and violence might instead inspire solidarity and a quest for global justice.

"If we are interested in arresting cycles of violence to produce less violent outcomes, it is no doubt important to ask what, politically, might be made of grief besides a cry for war." -- Judith Butler "If Precarious Life represents a departure from the subject of gender, it's clear that its author is still interested in stirring up trouble -- academic, political and otherwise." -- Bookforum "A book that shines with the splendor of engaged thought." - Brooklyn Rail "One of Butler's most topical and accessible books." -- Women's Review of Books "Hers is a unique voice f courage and conceptual ambition that addresses public life from the perspective of psychic reality, encouraging us to acknowledge the solidarity and the suffering through which we emerge as subjects of freedom." - Homi K. Bhabha