From Black Power to Black Studies: How a Radical Social Movement Became an Academic Discipline

From Black Power to Black Studies: How a Radical Social Movement Became an Academic Discipline

by Fabio Rojas
From Black Power to Black Studies: How a Radical Social Movement Became an Academic Discipline

From Black Power to Black Studies: How a Radical Social Movement Became an Academic Discipline

by Fabio Rojas

eBook

$23.49  $31.00 Save 24% Current price is $23.49, Original price is $31. You Save 24%.

Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
WANT A NOOK?  Explore Now

Related collections and offers


Overview

The black power movement helped redefine African Americans' identity and establish a new racial consciousness in the 1960s. As an influential political force, this movement in turn spawned the academic discipline known as Black Studies. Today there are more than a hundred Black Studies degree programs in the United States, many of them located in America’s elite research institutions. In From Black Power to Black Studies, Fabio Rojas explores how this radical social movement evolved into a recognized academic discipline.

Rojas traces the evolution of Black Studies over more than three decades, beginning with its origins in black nationalist politics. His account includes the 1968 Third World Strike at San Francisco State College, the Ford Foundation’s attempts to shape the field, and a description of Black Studies programs at various American universities. His statistical analyses of protest data illuminate how violent and nonviolent protests influenced the establishment of Black Studies programs. Integrating personal interviews and newly discovered archival material, Rojas documents how social activism can bring about organizational change.

Shedding light on the black power movement, Black Studies programs, and American higher education, this historical analysis reveals how radical politics are assimilated into the university system.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780801899713
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date: 09/01/2010
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 304
Sales rank: 996,872
File size: 4 MB
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Fabio Rojas is an assistant professor of sociology at Indiana University.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
Note on Terminology
1. The Movement That Became an Institution
2. The Road to Black Studies
3. Revolution at San Francisco State College
4. The Life and Death of Black Studies Programs
5. The Ford Foundation's Mission in Black Studies
6. Constructing the Discipline
7. Black Studies as the Loyal Opposition
Appendixes
A. Note on Research Method
B. Archives Consulted
C. Newspapers Consulted
D. People Interviewed by the Author
E. Sample Interview Questions
F. Interviews Collected by Others
G. Quantitative Data Used
H. The Survey of Issues in Africana Studies
Notes
Index

What People are Saying About This

David A. Snow

Fabio Rojas’s illuminating account of the social movement origins of Black Studies and its development as an academic discipline contributes significantly to our understanding of the evolution of Black Studies and the intersection of social movements, organizations, black power, and higher education. It will be of special interest to scholars in all these areas.

David A. Snow, University of California, Irvine

Sidney Tarrow

How does a fiery social movement adapt to institutions of higher learning? How do institutions respond to conflict, co-opt challengers, and absorb change? And how do movements cope with society's declining receptivity to reform? Fabio Rojas's book answers these questions and is a must read for activists and for scholars of African American politics and social movements.

Sidney Tarrow, Maxwell Upson Professor of Government and Sociology, Cornell University

Floyd W. Hayes III

I know of no other study that brings to bear such diverse bodies of scholarly literature for the purpose of investigating trends, developments, and future challenges relating to the evolving field of Black Studies. Rojas's detailed analysis of the struggle for Black Studies at San Francisco State College—together with a comparative study of the discipline at the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Harvard University—makes this project one of the most important examinations to date of the genealogy and institutionalization of Black Studies in the academy.

Floyd W. Hayes III, Center for Africana Studies, Johns Hopkins University, author of A Turbulent Voyage: Readings in African American Studies

Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar

Fabio Rojas's history of the development of Black Studies explores power relationships in the context of politics, race, and academia in the era of black power. This is a thorough and rewarding study of the people, events, and ideas that gave birth to and nurtured Black Studies.

Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar, author of Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identity

From the Publisher

I know of no other study that brings to bear such diverse bodies of scholarly literature for the purpose of investigating trends, developments, and future challenges relating to the evolving field of Black Studies. Rojas's detailed analysis of the struggle for Black Studies at San Francisco State College—together with a comparative study of the discipline at the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Harvard University—makes this project one of the most important examinations to date of the genealogy and institutionalization of Black Studies in the academy.
—Floyd W. Hayes III, Center for Africana Studies, Johns Hopkins University, author of A Turbulent Voyage: Readings in African American Studies

Fabio Rojas's history of the development of Black Studies explores power relationships in the context of politics, race, and academia in the era of black power. This is a thorough and rewarding study of the people, events, and ideas that gave birth to and nurtured Black Studies.
—Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar, author of Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identity

Fabio Rojas’s illuminating account of the social movement origins of Black Studies and its development as an academic discipline contributes significantly to our understanding of the evolution of Black Studies and the intersection of social movements, organizations, black power, and higher education. It will be of special interest to scholars in all these areas.
—David A. Snow, University of California, Irvine

How does a fiery social movement adapt to institutions of higher learning? How do institutions respond to conflict, co-opt challengers, and absorb change? And how do movements cope with society's declining receptivity to reform? Fabio Rojas's book answers these questions and is a must read for activists and for scholars of African American politics and social movements.
—Sidney Tarrow, Maxwell Upson Professor of Government and Sociology, Cornell University

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews