Black Feminist Thought

Patricia Hill Collins is Distinguished University Professor of Sociology Emerita at the University of Maryland, College Park, USA, and Charles Phelps Taft Professor Emerita of African American Studies at the University of Cincinnati, USA. She is the author of over ten books, including her award-winning classics Black Feminist Thought and Black Sexual Politics. Professor Collins has lectured widely in the United States, Europe, and Brazil. She was the 2009 President of the American Sociological Association (ASA), the first African-American woman elected to this position in the organization’s 104-year history. Professor Collins has won numerous professional awards, among them the William E.B. DuBois Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award from ASA (2017), the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Black Sociologists (2018), the Alumni Award from Brandeis University (2021), the Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service for Sociology (2021), and the Berggruen Prize in Philosophy and Culture (2023).

'Black Feminist Thought continues to be an inspiration and foundation. The continued relevance of Black Feminist Thought thirty years later means a new generation will be inspired and fortified by the essence of Collin’s words. While the country, indeed the world, has shifted since its initial publication, there is a critical need for taking seriously the intellectual and personal challenge Black feminism offers to engendering social justice. Black Feminist Thought answers the call by reminding us of the power of our own ideas.' - Zakiya Luna and Whitney Pirtle, authors of Black Feminist Sociology: Perspectives and Praxis 'With the publication of Black Feminist Thought, Black feminism has moved to a new level. Her work sets a standard for the discussion of Black women's lives, experiences, and thought that demands rigorous attention to the complexity of these experiences and an exploration of a multiplicity of responses.' - Women's Review of Books'A superbly crafted book that provides the first synthetic review of Black feminst thought.' - Feminist Bookstore News'The book argues convincingly that Black feminists be given, in the words immortalized by Aretha Franklin, a little more R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Those with an appetite for scholarese will find Collins's book delicious.' - Black Enterprise'The author discusses how knowledge can foster African-American women's empowerment. In line with her own deepened understanding of the issues since the first edition, she emphasizes Black feminist thought's purpose in fostering both empowerment and conditions of social justice, provides a more complex analysis of oppression, and places greater stress on the connections between knowledge and power relations. New themes include the nation as a form of oppression, as well as a transnational, global dimension. Topics are organized under the headings of the social construction of Black feminist thought, core themes, and Black Feminism, knowledge, and power.' - Book News, Inc.

• Preface to the First Edition Preface to the Second Edition Preface to the 2026 Routledge Classics Edition Acknowledgements Part 1: The Social Construction of Black Feminist Thought 1. The Politics of Black Feminist Thought 2. Distinguishing Features of Black Feminist Thought Part 2: Core Themes in Black Feminist Thought 3. Work, Family, and Black Women’s Oppression 4. Mammies, Matriarchs, and Other Controlling Images 5. The Power of Self-Definition 6. The Sexual Politics of Black Womanhood 7. Black Women’s Love Relationships 8. Black Women and Motherhood 9. Rethinking Black Women’s Activism Part 3: Black Feminism, Knowledge, and Power 10. U.S. Black Feminism in a Transnational Context 11. Black Feminist Epistemology 12. Toward a Politics of Empowerment. Glossary Bibliography Index