32102

SoSe 21: The Black Radical Tradition

Anthony Obst

Comments

This course provides a historical overview of the theories and practices animating what Cedric Robinson has called “the black radical tradition.” Following Robinson in tracing the roots of the tradition to African peoples’ resistance to “enslavement, racial domination, and repression” (Black Marxism 309), the course explores the myriad ways in which Black people in the Americas have critically theorized and sought to fundamentally transform political, economic, and social conditions. Taking seriously the tradition’s challenges to Eurocentric epistemologies, the course seeks to destabilize notions of what constitutes theory through explorations of Black protest music, film, and literature, alongside analyses of key texts by thinkers such as Robinson, W. E. B. Du Bois, Angela Davis, and Saidiya Hartman. In an online seminar setting, students will familiarize themselves with methodologies of cultural studies and develop analytical frameworks attuned to intersecting issues of race, class, and gender. In doing so, students will build conceptual approaches and vocabularies for participating in and historically situating discussions around contemporary topics such as police abolition and the Movement for Black Lives. close

14 Class schedule

Regular appointments

Wed, 12:00 - 14:00 14 Class schedule

Wed, 2021-04-14 12:00 - 14:00

Lecturers:
Anthony Obst