Citadels of Pride: Sexual Abuse, Accountability, and Reconciliation

In this essential philosophical and practical reckoning, Martha C. Nussbaum, renowned for her eloquence and clarity of moral vision, shows how sexual abuse and harassment derive from using people as things to one’s own benefit—like other forms of exploitation, they are rooted in the ugly emotion of pride. She exposes three “Citadels of Pride” and the men who hoard power at the apex of each. In the judiciary, the arts and sports, Nussbaum analyses how pride perpetuates systemic sexual abuse, narcissism and toxic masculinity. The courage of many has brought about some reforms but justice is still elusive—warped sometimes by money, power or inertia; sometimes by a collective desire for revenge.

By analysing the effects of law and public policy on our ever-evolving definitions of sexual violence, Nussbaum clarifies how gaps in the law allow this violence to proliferate; why criminal laws dealing with sexual assault need to be complemented by an understanding of the distorted emotions that breed abuse and why anger and vengeance rarely achieve lasting change. Citadels of Pride offers a damning indictment of the culture of male power that insulates high-profile abusers from accountability. Yet Nussbaum offers a hopeful way forward, envisioning a future in which, as survivors mobilise to tell their stories and institutions pursue fair and nuanced reform, we might fully recognise the equal dignity of all people.