Shadowboxing: Representations of Black Feminist Politics

by Joy James

Shadowboxing presents an explosive analysis of the history and practice of black feminisms, drawing upon political theory, history, and cultural studies in a sweepingly interdisciplinary work. Joy James charts new territory by synthesizing theories of social movements with cultural and identity politics. She brings into the spotlight images of black female agency and intellectualism in radical and anti-radical political contexts. From a comparative look at Ida B. Wells, Ella Baker, Angela Davis, and Assata Shakur to analyses of the black woman in white cinema and the black man in feminist coalitions, she focuses attention on the invisible or the forgotten. James convincingly demonstrates how images of powerful women are either consigned to oblivion or transformed into icons robbed of intellectual power. Shadowboxing honors and analyzes the work of black activists and intellectuals and, along the way, redefines the sharp divide between intellectual work and political movements. A daringly original study, this book changes what it means to be American.

Genres: Feminism, Nonfiction, Politics, Gender and Sexuality, Race

239 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Joy James is the John B. and John T. McCoy Presidential Professor of Humanities and College Professor in Political Science at Williams College. She is the author of Resisting State Violence: Radicalism, Gender, and Race in U.S. Culture, and her edited works on incarceration and human rights include States of Confinement: Policing, Detention, and Prisons and Imprisoned Intellectuals: America's Political Prisoners Write on Life, Liberation, and Rebellion.

Reviews

[AJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

this b00k rulez!

[Taryn Janati]

quotes i like: "part of the racialized attraction or aversion for the black in a society obsessed with race, sex, and violence is the appeal of exotica tinged with racial savagery and perversity"