Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture

by Shannon Hayes
(2010 | 300p)

Families nationwide are struggling with how to manage a growing sense of powerlessness as our world undergoes climate change, our economy flounders and public health worsens. Shannon Hayes, author of the manifesto “Radical Homemakers,” is not alone in her decision to return to the home – the foundation on which a healthy community is built. But this is not a call to return to well-coiffed housewives who wear heels as they keep house and bake pies. Not at all. Hayes is talking about turning homes back into net producers, about turning our backs on the corporate culture that has morphed us into the net consumers that keeps the corporations thriving even as the rest of us struggle to get by.

While researching this book Hayes did extensive research. And it shows. Her passion for the cause is punctuated by well thought out arguments and cold, hard facts. You won't know how to can tomatoes or milk a goat after reading this book. “Radical Homemakers” isn't a how-to back-to-the-land manual. This is an overview of how the radical homemaker movement came about and how it has manifested itself in diverse households. It's a rallying cry for anyone who has been tip-toeing their way toward this way of life.

I don't often read works of non-fiction from cover to cover. “Radical Homemakers” was an exception, once I started I couldn't put it down.