A Political Companion to Frederick Douglass (Political Companions to Great American Authors)

"A splendid opportunity to rethink Douglass's political thought . . . relevant today given the discourse of white nationalism in the United States." — Choice Frederick Douglass was a writer and public speaker whose impact on America has been long studied by historians and literary critics. Yet as political theorists have focused on the legacies of such notables as W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, Douglass's profound influence on Afro-modern and American political thought has often been undervalued. In an effort to fill this gap in the scholarship on Douglass, editor Neil Roberts and an exciting group of established and rising scholars examine the author's autobiographies, essays, speeches, and novella. Together, they illuminate his genius for analyzing and articulating core American ideals such as independence, liberation, individualism, and freedom, particularly in the context of slavery. The contributors explore Douglass's understanding of the self-made American and the way in which he expanded the notion of individual potential by arguing that citizens had a responsibility to improve not only their own situations but also those of their communities. A Political Companion to Frederick Douglass also considers the idea of agency, investigating Douglass's passionate insistence that every person in a democracy, even a slave, possesses an innate ability to act. Various essays illuminate Douglass's complex racial politics, deconstructing what seems at first to be his surprising aversion to racial pride, and others explore and critique concepts of masculinity, gender, and judgment in his oeuvre. The volume concludes with a discussion of Douglass's contributions to pre- and post-Civil War jurisprudence. "Rich insights from scholarship both old and new. A fine collection." — Political Theory Literary critics and historians have long studied Frederick Douglass’s impact on American literature and history, yet surprisingly few scholars have analyzed his influence on American political thought. Political theorists have focused on the legacies of W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, but editor Neil Roberts argues that it is impossible to understand their work or Afro-modern and American political thought without understanding Frederick Douglass’s contributions. Douglass was a prolific writer and public speaker, and the contributors to this comprehensive volume examine not only his famous autobiographies but also his novels, essays, and speeches. Douglass had a genius for analyzing and articulating basic American ideals such as independence, liberation, individualism, and freedom in the particular context of American slavery. The contributors explore Douglass’s understanding of the self-made American individual and the way in which Douglass expanded the notion of individual potential, arguing that citizens have a responsibility to improve not only their own situations but also their communities’ well-being. The contributors also consider the idea of agency, investigating Douglass’s passionate insistence that every person in a democracy, even a slave, possesses an innate ability to act. Several of the volume’s essays seek to illuminate Douglass’s complex racial politics, deconstructing what seems at first to be his surprising aversion to racial pride, and others critique concepts of masculinity and gender in his oeuvre. The volume concludes with a discussion of Douglass’s contributions to pre- and post–Civil War jurisprudence. "Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was a prolific writer and public speaker whose impact on American literature and history has been long studied by historians and literary critics. Yet as political theorists have focused on the legacies of such notables as W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, Douglass's profound influence on Afro-modern and American political thought has often been undervalued. In an effort to fill this gap in the scholarship on Douglass, editor Neil Roberts and an exciting group of established and rising scholars examine the author's autobiographies, essays, speeches, and novella. Together, they illuminate his genius for analyzing and articulating core American ideals such as independence, liberation, individualism, and freedom, particularly in the context of slavery. The contributors explore Douglass's understanding of the self-made American and the way in which he expanded the notion of individual potential by arguing that citizens had a responsibility to improve not only their own situations but also those of their communities. A Political Companion to Frederick Douglass also considers the idea of agency, investigating Douglass's passionate insistence that every person in a democracy, even a slave, possesses an innate ability to act. Various essays illuminate Douglass's complex racial politics, deconstructing what seems at first to be his surprising aversion to racial pride, and others explore and critique concepts of masculinity, gender, and judgment in his oeuvre. The volume concludes with a discussion of Douglass's contributions to pre- and post-Civil War jurisprudence"-- Publisher's description

Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) was a prolific writer and public speaker whose impact on American literature and history has been long studied by historians and literary critics. Yet as political theorists have focused on the legacies of such notables as W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, Douglass's profound influence on Afro-modern and American political thought has often been undervalued.

In an effort to fill this gap in the scholarship on Douglass, editor Neil Roberts and an exciting group of established and rising scholars examine the author's autobiographies, essays, speeches, and novella. Together, they illuminate his genius for analyzing and articulating core American ideals such as independence, liberation, individualism, and freedom, particularly in the context of slavery. The contributors explore Douglass's understanding of the self-made American and the way in which he expanded the notion of individual potential by arguing that citizens had a responsibility to improve not only their own situations but also those of their communities.

A Political Companion to Frederick Douglass also considers the idea of agency, investigating Douglass's passionate insistence that every person in a democracy, even a slave, possesses an innate ability to act. Various essays illuminate Douglass's complex racial politics, deconstructing what seems at first to be his surprising aversion to racial pride, and others explore and critique concepts of masculinity, gender, and judgment in his oeuvre. The volume concludes with a discussion of Douglass's contributions to pre– and post–Civil War jurisprudence.

Introduction: political thought in the shadow of Douglass / Neil Roberts -- Slavery, freedom, agency. Masters, mistresses, slaves, and the antinomies of modernity / Paul Gilroy -- The fight with Covey / Bernard R. Boxill -- Frederick Douglass's master-slave dialectic / Margaret Kohn -- Lectures on liberation / Angela Y. Davis -- Douglass's declarations of independence and practices of politics / Robert Gooding-Williams -- Judgment, intersectionality, human nature. Douglass and political judgment: the post-Reconstruction years / Jack Turner -- Black masculinity achieves nothing without restorative care: an intersectional rearticulation of Frederick Douglass / Ange-Marie Hancock Alfaro -- "The human heart is a seat of constant war": Frederick Douglass on human nature / Nicholas Buccola -- Seed-time and harvest-time: natural law and rational hopefulness in Frederick Douglass's life and times / Peter C. Myers -- The affect of God's law / Vincent Lloyd -- Law-breaker: Frederick Douglass and the rule of law / Anne Norton -- Rhetoric, citizenship, democracy. Frederick Douglass / Herbert J. Storing -- Staging dissensus: Frederick Douglass and "We the people" / Jason Frank -- "A blending of opposite qualities": Frederick Douglass and the demands of democratic citizenship / Nick Bromell