Black Feminist Thought, 30th Anniversary Edition: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment

by Patricia Hill Collins

Overview

In the first major update to this classic book in many years, Collins traces the history and contours of Black women’s ideas and actions to argue that Black feminist thought is the discourse that fosters Black women’s survival, persistence, and success against the odds. Through meticulous research that synthesizes the important intellectual work done by Black women, Collins’s timely update demonstrates that Black women’s ideas and actions are not marginal concerns but rather are central to the future of social justice within democratic societies.

The combination of the text’s classic arguments and a preface and epilogue written expressly for this edition speak to people who have long been working on social justice and to a new generation of readers who are encountering the ideas and actions of Black women for the first time.

For this 30th year anniversary edition, Patricia Hill Collins examines how the ideas in this classic text speak to contemporary social issues and identifies the directions needed for the future of Black feminist thought.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781000506808
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/16/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	468
Sales rank:	610,757
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Patricia Hill Collins is Distinguished University Professor of Sociology Emerita at the University of Maryland, College Park and Charles Phelps Taft Professor Emerita of African American Studies at the University of Cincinnati. She is the author of ten books, including her award-winning books Black Feminist Thought (1990, 2000) and Black Sexual Politics (2004), as well as her co-authored volume Intersectionality (2016, 2020), and Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory (2019). Dr. Collins has lectured widely in the United States, Europe, Brazil, and internationally. Dr. Collins has served in many capacities in community and professional organizations, including as the 2009 President of the American Sociological Association (ASA), the first African-American woman elected to this position in the organization’s 104-year history. Dr. Collins has won numerous professional awards, among them the William E.B. DuBois Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award from ASA (2017), the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Black Sociologists (2018), the Alumni Award from Brandeis University (2021), and the Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service for 2021 for sociology.

Table of Contents

Preface to the First Edition, Preface to the Second Edition, Preface to the 30th Anniversary Edition, Acknowledgements Part I: The Social Construction of Black Feminist Thought 1. The Politics of Black Feminist Thought 2. Distinguishing Features of Black Feminist Thought Part II: Core Themes in Black Feminist Thought 3. Work, Family, and Black Women's Oppression 4. Mammies, Matriarchs, and Other Controlling Images 5. The Power of Self-Definition 6. The Sexual Politics of Black Womanhood 7. Black Women's Love Relationships 8. Black Women and Motherhood 9. Rethinking Black Women's Activism Part III: Black Feminism, Knowledge, and Power 10. U.S. Black Feminism in a Transnational Context 11. Black Feminist Epistemology 12. Toward a Politics of Empowerment Epilogue: The Power of Ideas Glossary, References, Index

Editorial Reviews

Praise for the new edition

"Black Feminist Thought continues to be an inspiration and foundation. The continued relevance of Black Feminist Thought thirty years later means a new generation will be inspired and fortified by the essence of Collin’s words. While the country, indeed the world, has shifted since its initial publication, there is a critical need for taking seriously the intellectual and personal challenge Black feminism offers to engendering social justice. Black Feminist Thought answers the call by reminding us of the power of our own ideas. This volume’s important additions offer a new way to read a classic text and take seriously its mandate that we continue to forge a path to a future where Black women are free."
Zakiya Luna and Whitney Pirtle, Authors of Black Feminist Sociology: Perspectives and Praxis

Praise for previous editions

"With the publication of Black Feminist Thought, Black feminism has moved to a new level. Her work sets a standard for the discussion of Black women's lives, experiences, and thought that demands rigorous attention to the complexity of these experiences and an exploration of a multiplicity of responses."

Women's Review of Books

"A superbly crafted book that provides the first synthetic review of Black feminst thought."
Feminist Bookstore News

"The book argues convincingly that Black feminists be given, in the words immortalized by Aretha Franklin, a little more R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Those with an appetite for scholarese will find Collins's book delicious."
Black Enterprise

"The author discusses how knowledge can foster African-American women's empowerment. In line with her own deepened understanding of the issues since the first edition, she emphasizes Black feminist thought's purpose in fostering both empowerment and conditions of social justice, provides a more complex analysis of oppression, and places greater stress on the connections between knowledge and power relations. New themes include the nation as a form of oppression, as well as a transnational, global dimension. Topics are organized under the headings of the social construction of Black feminist thought, core themes, and Black Feminism, knowledge, and power."
Book News, Inc.

From the Publisher