Book Review: Black Feminist Thought (Patricia Hill Collins)

Alexandra Bobet HIST 3119 Spring 2013 cutting womens liberationist scene Knowledge, Consciousness, and the governing of authorization (review) cruddy feminist theory Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. Ed. By Patricia Hill collins. (New York R go forthledge, 2000. ii, 336 pp. Cloth, $128. 28, ISBN 0-415-92483-9. Paper, $26. 21, 0-415-92484-7. ) Patricia Hill collinss work, forbidding feminist Thought seeks to center wispy Women into intersectionalist thought, addressing the power struggles that governance them non only due to their public life except also to the gender.Masculine hot air and sizeable male leaders such(prenominal) as Huey P. Newton and Eldridge Cleaver have overshadowed unforgiving Womens stories, both(prenominal) in and out of the genteel Right Rights/Black indicator Era. It is an analysis that defines Black feminist Thought, quite of recycling former exsanguine Feminist philosophies and providing interpretations of them. However, she does integrate sense raising into the personify of work, move in from her personal experiences speckle analyzing the text editions of women such as Alice Walker and cost hooks.The second edition of Black Feminist Thought differs from the first in both the complexity and the depth of onerousness and empowerment, spanning into a transnational level. collins breaks down her newfangled into three parts. Part I The hearty twisting of Feminist Thought, Part II subject matter Themes in Black Feminist Thought, and Part III Black Feminism, Knowledge, and Power. Bobet 2 Part I The Social Construction of Feminist Thought sweep ups the history of subjugation of dark women from various sectors. black-and-blue feminism has failed women which uptake of essentialist philosophy, which collins uses in the relationship surrounded by Rebecca Felton and Ida B Wells, the former praised by White feminists even though she was an advocate of lynching. collins touches upon Black l eadership and how it has addressed gender, in particular the case of Elaine Brown and the Black Panther Party of Oakland. Among African-American feminine scholars there has been a concern in the masculinist bias of Black political and accessible thought.With these mediums of oppression, her first theory, referred to as the Matrix of domination is brought up. Previous models of oppression were considered additive, or hierarchal, convey that they must be ranked. Collins uses the experiences of scurrilous women to explain that completely these modes of oppression, gender, hightail it and air division atomic number 18 interlocking and equally big when viewing domination. This bleeds mores into Part II, but the essentials argon discussed in this section. While there is rigorousness in this matrix, Collinss prelude is from a group level, and it does non cover how the singular may use the matrix.While it is sure that all these modes of oppression are at play, it would be mo re beneficial for the individual to place a value on these modes. For one individual, race may be more of a factor than gender, for some other individual it may differ, and so on. another(prenominal) critique of the matrix of oppression is how it does not address, sexual orientation, ableism, and ethnicity, among others. Part II Core Themes in Black Feminist Thought tackles five themes 1) a legacy of struggle, 2) give-and-take of the interlocking nature of race, coterie, and gender, 3) Bobet 3 eplacement of sort images of bare womanhood with those that are self-importance defined, 4) black womens activism, and 5) sensitivity to black sexual politics. The first three themes correlative to black motherhood and living in a binary environment, one in which black people are the ladened and white people are the oppressors. Images of black womanhood have been terribly malformed to show stereotypes such as the single teenage mother and the welfare mother.Black womens activism, one o f the last core themes of the text, has been more of a desire for group natural selection and cohesion than any political motives, as seen with the story of Sara Brooks and her job as a domestic worker. Her job speaks big volumes to political activism and the nature of oppression than numerous another(prenominal) political texts, according to Collins. This outlook parallels some(prenominal) of bell hookss renders, particularly Theory As A Liberatory Practice. This essay addresses the powers of the Sara Brookses of the world and how their actions complement the discourse that is be forged.Part III Black Feminism, Knowledge, and Power comprises of the edits not found in the first edition. outline from experiences from Senegalese, American, and British Black feminists, the matrix of race, gender, and class oppressions are still relevant to all nations, despite diversity. Angela Davis is frequently cited as a champion of this transnational empowerment She encourages Black Wom en of privilege to not ignore the whirl of our sisters who are acquainted with the immediacy of oppression in a way many of us are not, fueling Collinss core theme of a type of feminism rooted in sisterhood and familial ties.Analysis of oppression from a nationalistic point of view is represented, drawing further from her original gender/race/class matrix. Bobet 4 To conclude, Black Feminist Thought is thorough and crucial text because of how vigilantly it attempts (and successfully so) to not be another spin on White feminism. Using the methodological approach of historical materialism, it addresses the concerns that Black women have on the heels of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements.Concerns with the narrative are that while it does explain the roots of consciousness raising and feminist thought in Black Power movements, the overwhelming measuring stick of text is based on the interpretations of writers such as Alice Walker, bell hooks, and Audre Lorde, much little on intellectuals. Collins touches upon the efforts of Elaine Brown, Angela Davis, and also provides a personal account of Francis Beale and her experience with racialism in SNCC. Beales experiences with sexism, for example influenced her essay, Black Womens Manifesto Double hazard To Be Black and A Woman. I found Collinss statement of what is a feminist to be inclusionary and not in any way rejecting masculinity, but more how the masculine rhetoric that has crush women should be rejected. Black feminist rhetoric created in backlash has centered on community awareness, and a sense of identicalness through a group. While Collins alludes to capitalism as also being a contributing factor in the oppression of Black women, there was not as much concrete point to support that as much as there was racism and sexism. Patricia Hill Collins forms a text that finally draws a map into the complexity of oppression and empowerment.