Knowing in Space: Three Lessons from Black Women's Social Theory

labrys, études féministes/estudos feministas janvier/juin 2013 - janeiro/junho 2013

23 Pages Posted: 26 May 2013

See all articles by Kristie Dotson

Kristie Dotson

Michigan State University - Department of Philosophy

Date Written: May 26, 2013

Abstract

In attempting to create a US Black feminist philosophy, I have uncovered three lessons in US Black women’s social theory. They are the following: 1) oppression is a multistable, social phenomenon; 2) many US Black women identify occupying a negative, socio-epistemic space as part of their experience of oppression; and 3) addressing oppression for many Black women will require grappling with politics of social spatiality. These insights are by no means new. However, the fact that these tropes can be identified in almost 200 years of Black women's social theory in the US is far more distinctive than many allow.

Keywords: Intersectionality, Multistability of Oppression, Socio-Epistemic Space, and Politics of Social Spatiality, US Black Feminist Philosophy, The Combahee River Collective, Fannie Barrier Williams, and Anna Julia Cooper

Suggested Citation

Dotson, Kristie, Knowing in Space: Three Lessons from Black Women's Social Theory (May 26, 2013). labrys, études féministes/estudos feministas janvier/juin 2013 - janeiro/junho 2013, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2270343

Kristie Dotson (Contact Author)

Michigan State University - Department of Philosophy ( email )

503 S. Kedzie Hall
East Lansing, MI 48824
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
538
Abstract Views
2,758
Rank
95,064
PlumX Metrics