In The Promise of Happiness, Ahmed dismantles the cultural consensus that happiness is an unconditional good, arguing instead that unhappiness can acquire political significance when it reveals the costs of socially prescribed happiness. The book suggests that apparent social harmony is often maintained by covering over conflict, inequality, and suffering that underpin dominant norms. In this context, the feminist killjoy, the unhappy queer, and the melancholic migrant are figures associated with unhappiness because they do not follow socially approved paths to happiness. By expressing or remaining attached to feelings that dominant happiness narratives seek to overcome, they draw attention to violence and exclusion concealed by the “happiness duty”—the expectation that people should be happy and contribute to the happiness of others. Through these figures, Ahmed demonstrates how unhappiness can unsettle established social norms and make other ways of living imaginable.

The figure of the “feminist killjoy” is central to this argument. She is the person who disrupts the mood of a social gathering by pointing out sexism or another expression of unequal power. As Ahmed describes, this act of speaking out against injustice leads to her being perceived as the source of the bad feeling.