Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment

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 not only provides an interpretive framework for the work of such prominent Black feminist thinkers as Angela Davis, Alice Walker, and Audre Lorde, but she shows the importance of self-defined knowledge for group empowerment. In the tenth anniversary edition of this award-winning work, Patricia Hill Collins expands the basic arguments of the first edition by adding several important new themes. A new discussion of heterosexism as a system of power, an expanded treatment of images of Black womanhood, U.S. Black feminism's connections to Black Diasporic feminisms, and more attention to the importance of social class and nationalism all appear in the new edition. In addition, the new edition includes recent developments in black cultural studies, especially black popular culture, as well as recent events and trends such as the Anita Hill hearings and the backlash against affirmative action.

A synthetic theoretical treatment of the contributions of African-American women to feminist thought. The book examines the historical and social conditions that have produced what the author argues is a special perspective on feminist issues amongst this group of women.

This revised tenth anniversary edition expands on the arguments of the original edition to include discussions of heterosexism as a system of power, expanded images of black womanhood, U.S. black feminism's connections to black "Diasporic" feminism, and the importance of social class and nationalism.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [302]-325) and index.

pt. 1. The social construction of black feminist thought. The politics of black feminist thought — Distinguishing features of black feminist thought — pt. 2. Core themes in black feminist thought. Work, family, and black women's oppression — Mammies, matriarchs, and other controlling images — The power of self-definition — The sexual politics of black womanhood — Black women's love relationships — Black women and motherhood — Rethinking black women's activism — pt. 3. Black feminism, knowledge, and power. U.S. black feminism in transnational context — Black feminist epistemology — Toward a politics of empowerment.