Renewing Black intellectual history : the ideological and material foundations of African American thought

Reflecting critically on the discipline of African American studies is a complicated undertaking. Making sense of the black American experience requires situating it within the larger cultural, political-economic, and ideological dynamics that shape American life. This volume moves away from privileging racial commonality as the fulcrum of inquiry and moves toward observing the quality of the accounts scholars have rendered of black American life. This book maps the changing conditions of black political practice and experience from Emancipation to Obama with excursions into the Jim Crow era, Black Power radicalism, and the Reagan revolt. Here are essays, classic and new, that define historically and conceptually discrete problems affecting black Americans as these problems have been shaped by both politics and scholarly fashion. A key goal of the book is to come to terms with the changing terrain of American life in view of major Civil Rights court decisions and legislation. Pt. 1. Emancipation, Reconstruction, and retrenchment Frederick Douglass's Life and times : progressive rhetoric and the problem of constituency / Kenneth W. Warren "Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and others" : the political economy of racism in the United States / Judith Stein Pt. 2. The Jim Crow era How Black "folk" survived in the modern South : industrialization, popular culture, and the transformation of Black working-class leisure in the Jim Crow South / William P. Jones An inevitable drift? : oligarchy, Du Bois, and the prospect of democracy between the wars / Kenneth W. Warren The Educational Alliance and the Urban League in New York : ethnic elites and the politics of Americanization and racial uplift, 1903-1932 / Touré F. Reed The Chicago School of Human Ecology and the ideology of Black civic elites / Preston H. Smith II "What a pure, healthy, unified race can accomplish" : collective reproduction and the sexual politics of Black nationalism / Michele Mitchell Black power nationalism as ethnic pluralism : postwar liberalism's ethnic paradigm in Black radicalism / Dean E. Robinson Pt. 3. The post-Jim Crow era The postmodern moment in Black literary and cultural studies / Madhu Dubey The "color line" then and now : The souls of Black folk and the changing context of Black American politics / Adolph Reed Jr. pt. 1. Emancipation, Reconstruction, and retrenchment Frederick Douglass's life and times : Progressive rhetoric and the problem of constituency / Kenneth W. Warren "Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and others" : the political economy of racism in the United States / Judith Stein pt. 2. The Jim Crow era How Black "folk" survived in the modern South : industrialization, popular culture, and the transformation of Black working-class leisure in the Jim Crow South / William P. Jones An inevitable drift? : oligarchy, Du Bois, and the politics of race between the wars / Kenneth W. Warren The Educational Alliance and the Urban League in New York : ethnic elites and the politics of Americanization and racial uplift, 1903-1932 / Touré F. Reed The Chicago School of Human Ecology and the ideology of Black civic elites / Preston H. Smith II "What a pure, healthy, unified race can accomplish" : collective reproduction and the sexual politics of Black nationalism / Michele Mitchell Black power nationalism as ethnic pluralism : postwar liberalism's ethnic paradigm in Black radicalism / Dean E. Robinson pt. 3. The post-Jim Crow era The postmodern moment in Black literary and cultural studies / Madhu Dubey The "color line" then and now : The souls of Black folk and the changing context of Black American politics / Adolph Reed, Jr. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Contents Introduction Acknowledgments Part I Emancipation, Reconstruction, and Retrenchment Introduction 1 Frederick Douglass’s Life and Times: Progressive Rhetoric and the Problem of Constituency 2 “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others”: The Political Economy of Racism in the United States Part II The Jim Crow Era Introduction 3 How Black “Folk” Survived in the Modern South: Industrialization, Popular Culture, and the Transformation of Black Working-Class Leisure in the Jim Crow South 4 An Inevitable Drift? Oligarchy, Du Bois, and the Prospect of Democracy Between the Wars 5 The Educational Alliance and the Urban League in New York: Ethnic Elites and the Politics of Americanization and Racial Uplift, 1903–1932 6 The Chicago School of Human Ecology and the Ideology of Black Civic Elites 7 “What a Pure, Healthy, Unified Race Can Accomplish”: Collective Reproduction and the Sexual Politics of Black Nationalism 8 Black Power Nationalism as Ethnic Pluralism: Postwar Liberalism’s Ethnic Paradigm in Black Radicalism Part III The Post–Jim Crow Era Introduction 9 The Postmodern Moment in Black Literary and Cultural Studies 10 The “Color Line” Then and Now: The Souls of Black Folk and the Changing Context of Black American Politics Conclusion Index About the Authors

Reflecting critically on the discipline of African American studies is a complicated undertaking, and making sense of the black American experience requires situating it within the larger cultural, political-economic, and ideological dynamics that shape American life. Renewing Black Intellectual History moves away from privileging racial commonality as the fulcrum of inquiry and moves toward observing the quality of the accounts scholars have rendered of black American life.

This book maps the changing conditions of black political practice and experience from Emancipation to Obama with excursions into the Jim Crow era, Black Power radicalism, and the Reagan revolt. Here are essays, classic and new, that define historically and conceptually discrete problems affecting black Americans as these problems have been shaped by both politics and scholarly fashion. A key goal of the book is to come to terms with the changing terrain of American life in view of major Civil Rights court decisions and legislation.

This book maps the changing conditions of black political practice and experience from Emancipation to Obama with excursions into the Jim Crow era, Black Power radicalism, and the Reagan revolt. Here are essays, classic and new, that define historically and conceptually discrete problems affecting black Americans as these problems have been shaped by both politics and scholarly fashion. A key goal of the book is to come to terms with the changing terrain of American life in view of major civil rights court decisions and legislation.

Features

Analyzes the key movements, institutions, and individuals that shaped the lives of black Americans from the time of the Jim Crow era to Barack Obama's election.

Brings together leading scholars from a variety of disciplines to cast a critical eye on common assumptions about race and black identity.

Provides original introductions to each part of the book to put the chapters in context for students and general readers.

Maps the changing conditions of black political practice and experience from Emancipation to Obama with excursions into the Jim Crow era, Black Power radicalism, and the Reagan revolt. This book includes essays that define historically and conceptually discrete problems affecting black Americans.