Manon Garcia is a leading voice in conversations about consent, autonomy, and feminist philosophy. In her latest book, La Conversation des Sexes (translated to The Joy of Consent in its English edition), Garcia delves into the philosophical traditions that gave rise to “consent” as a legal framework. What does it mean to “consent” to sex? How can consent serve as a guiding principle for personal and intimate relations? Garcia offers a nuanced revision of consent-based ethics, imagining new paths forward for feminism. As scholar Nancy Bauer writes: “This book is no less than a blueprint for a new feminist revolution.”

About the speaker:

Manon Garcia is a feminist philosopher and a teacher at the Free University in Berlin. After completing her studies at the École Normale Supérieure and the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, she took on roles as a Harper-Schmidt Fellow at the University of Chicago, a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows, and an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Yale University. She has written two books: We Are Not Born Submissive: How Patriarchy Shapes Women’s Lives (Princeton University Press, 2021) and The Joy of Consent: A Philosophy of Good Sex (Harvard University Press, 2023).

Learn more:

Garcia’s first book, We Are Not Born Submissive (2021), explores the complex history of female submission. Watch her discuss this book in an interview.

Last April, Garcia joined the philosopher Kate Kirkpatrick in another illuminating Evening with an Author program at the American Library in Paris. In case you missed it: you can watch a recording of that program here.

Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Garcia will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.

Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.

Copies of The Joy of Consent will be available for purchase at the Library in the week leading up to this event and while the event takes place, generously provided by Smith&Son. All sales support this local independent bookstore.

Attendees will have the opportunity to have their copy signed following the conversation.