Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, And

Description:
In spite of the double burden of racial and gender discrimination, African-American women have developed a rich intellectual tradition that is not widely known. In 'Black Feminist Thought,' originally published in 1990, Patricia Hill Collins sets out to explore the words and ideas of Black feminist intellectuals and writers, both within the academy and without. Here Collins provides an interpretive framework for the work of such prominent Black feminist thinkers as Angela Davis, bell hooks, Alice Walker, and Audre Lorde. Drawing from fiction, poetry, music and oral history, the result is a superbly crafted and revolutionary book that provided the first synthetic overview of Black feminist thought and its canon.

Review:
'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

Table of Contents:
Preface to the First Edition. Preface to the Second Edition. Acknowledgements Part 1: The Social Construction of Black Feminist Thought 1. The Politics of Black Feminist Thought 2. Distinguishing Features of Black Feminist Thought Part 2: 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 3: Black Feminism, Knowledge and Power 10. US Black Feminism in Transnational Context 11. Black Feminist Epistemology 12. Toward a Politics of Empowerment

Author Biography:
Patricia Hill Collins (1948-) is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Black Feminist Thought is the best known of the many published works that have made her one of the leading American thinkers of our day.