Review Symposium

A review symposium on a book by Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment (Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1990 [see listing in IRPS No. 66]). Robert G. Newby (Central Michigan U, Mount Pleasant) argues that Collins provides a synthesis of an important body of knowledge, offering an analysis of the ideas of black women, particularly those reflecting a consciousness in opposition to oppression. She also seeks to discern the relationship of black feminist thought to knowledge, consciousness, & the politics of empowerment. Collins argues that to understand the basis of the oppressions of black women would require a consciousness that includes an awareness of the group to which one belongs, a feeling of commonality with the group, a recognition of the subordination of that group, a recognition of the basis & illegitimacy of that subordination, & acting on behalf of the group to eliminate that subordination. However, Collins does not make clear what the formation or target of this collective action would be, & her vision does not clearly take into account the obstacles that are to be overcome. Deborah K. King (Dartmouth Coll, Hanover, NH) praises the book for its explication of black women's standpoint & black feminist thought, & for its synthesis of earlier examinations of black women's perspectives. A major contribution of this work is its critical commingling & elaboration of feminist & Afrocentric perspectives. The work, however, provides very few references to sociological analyses. Barrie Thorne (U of Southern California, Los Angeles) suggests that the work makes a valuable contribution to the sociology of knowledge by linking the social positions & historical experiences of African-American women to their forms of consciousness & understanding. While the strengths of an argument that sets forth the outlook of a structurally distinct group of knowers are recognized, weaknesses are noted in the absence of reference to structural (social class) lines that divide African-American women & affect their experiences. In Reply, Collins states that she deliberately minimized the obvious heterogeneity among African-American women created by differences in experience to attend to the political context, & to delineate the contours of black feminist thought in a way that would be taken seriously as an area of intellectual inquiry. 8 References. S. Millett