Black Feminist Thought : Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment (Perspectives on Gender) [Paperback]

Patricia Hill Collins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1990 | ISBN-10: 0415905974 | ISBN-13: 978-0415905978 | Edition: 1

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, Patricia Hill Collins explores the words and ideas of Black feminist intellectuals as well as those African-American women outside academe. She provides an interpretive framework for the work of such prominent Black feminist thinkers as Angela Davis, bell hooks, Alice Walker, and Audre Lorde. The result is a superbly crafted book that provides the first synthetic overview of Black feminist thought.

Editorial Reviews

Review

In her introduction, Patricia Hill Collins states that her work is informed by the totality of her experience as the daughter of working-class parents, her education as a sociologist and educator, and her daily "non-scholarly activities" as wife, mother, community activist, sister, and friend. Black Feminist Thought is the first history and analysis of "Black women's ideas" told in a voice that is "both individual and collective, personal and political, one reflecting the intersection of my unique biography with the larger meaning of my historical times." In it we discover new meanings for selected and neglected traditional female themes like gossip, hair, TV, movies, food, and clothing; get a fresh look at where and how knowledge is produced; learn about self-definition and about kitchens, factories, and neighborhoods as "alternative locations for intellectual work." The implications of her chapters, "The Ethic of Caring," "The Ethic of Personal Accountability," and "Reconceptualizing Race, Class, and Gender as Interlocking Systems of Oppression," are enormous and compelling. For readers interested in the sources and definitions of knowledge - especially those whose history and intellectual tradition has been lost, denied, or denigrated - Black Feminist Thought is one of the most inspiring, exciting, and valuable books you'll ever read. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Jesse Larsen

About the Author

Patricia Hill Collins is Charles Phelps Taft Distinguished Professor in the Department of African-American Studies at the University of Cincinnati. She had published many articles in professional journals and edited volumes. Since the publication of Black Feminist Thought in 1990, she has published Race, Class, and Gender: An Anthology, (co-edited with Margaret Andersen), She is also the author of Fighting Words: Black Women and the Search for Justice (1998).

Product Details

• Paperback: 283 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (September 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415905974
• ISBN-13: 978-0415905978
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #881,022 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspired, July 31, 2001

By 

Debbie R. Nicholson (Houston, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment (Revised 10th Anniv 2nd Edition) (Paperback)

Patricia Hill Collins exemplifies a practitioner's and theorist's point of view on black feminism as it relates to Africa American and our African sisters. She references critical and inspiring data and quotes from a varied repetoire of authors, historians, and philosophers. The author explains the context and format of her subject upon initial reading. This book also draws commonalities among the issues and concerns among African American women and our international sisterhood (i.e., African, Carribean, etc.,) It illustrates the social and cultural values among all groups, the commonalities among the values while focusing on the African American feminist aspect. This is a must read for any person, be it woman or not, African American or other. It brings about a social and cultural understanding that is pertinent to the "holonomy" of understanding and appreciating varied cultural, social and historical values and experiences while commencing to the building of community. Please add this title to your collection of literature. You won't be disappointed; if for nothing more than to open your world to receive another perspective.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, May 1, 2000

By 

K. Johnson "kj79" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment (Revised 10th Anniv 2nd Edition) (Paperback)

Collins'analysis of black feminism is an enlightening piece of literature that forces its readers to chanllenge main stream assumptions and discover the underlying mechanisms of racism and sexism in America. To create this effect, she uses a range of feminist perspectives form the calm subtleties of Angela Davis to the slightly boisterous philosopy of Bell Hooks. Nevertheless, by displaying these perspectives equally Collins shows that the struggle for equally is not an individual struggle but one that requires collectively. This book is intensely thought provoking and it is guaranteed to give its readers profound insight into black feminism.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A dense but accessible read, May 5, 2008

By 

Steven Saus (Dayton, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment (Revised 10th Anniv 2nd Edition) (Paperback)

This book is dense with thoughts and ideas, written in a looping structure that weaves the vast diversity of black women's voices into a colorful tapestry of intricate detail and contradiction. This is its strength, and its weakness. Collins specifically avoids exclusivity, and this means she includes a few... well, "out there" thoughts from others. Most notably, she cites Tuan on p 139 who asserts that people go to zoos to see monkeys copulate. But this is an extreme, and very rare. More commonly, she grounds these diverse thoughts in real-world experiences. Most impressively, she makes the case that intellectual thought is not limited to the academy, but must include all those who think seriously about their lives. This means that groups - such as Black women - who have been historically excluded from the academy can rediscover their own intellectual traditions outside of academia, and tie them all together. I am glad that I read this book. It has many perspectives I simply was not aware of before I opened it. While I may not agree with all of Collins' assertions, I definitely respect them. It is a dense book, but the very structure of it makes it accessible through its layering technique. Further, Collins writes in a unadorned style that makes absorbing unfamiliar viewpoints all the easier.