
Exodus Politics
Civil Rights and Leadership in African American Literature and Culture
Robert J. Patterson(Author)
University of Virginia Press
Published on 30. November 2013
Book
Paperback/Softback
216 pages
978-0-8139-3526-3 (ISBN)
Description
Using the term ""exodus politics"" to theorise the valorisation of black male leadership in the movement for civil rights, Robert J. Patterson explores the ways in which the political strategies and ideologies of this movement paradoxically undermined the collective enfranchisement of black people. He argues that by narrowly conceptualising civil rights in only racial terms and relying solely on a male figure, conventional African American leadership, though frequently redemptive, can also erode the very goals of civil rights. The author turns to contemporary African American writers such as Ernest Gaines, Gayl Jones, Alice Walker, and Charles Johnson to show how they challenge the dominant models of civil rights leadership.
Patterson draws on a variety of disciplines-including black feminism, civil rights history, cultural studies, and liberation theology-in order to develop a more nuanced formulation of black subjectivity and politics. His connection of the concept of racial rights to gender and sexual rights allows him to illuminate the literature's promotion of more expansive models. By considering the competing and varied political interests of black communities, these writers reimagine the dominant models in a way that can empower communities to be self-sustaining in the absence of a messianic male leader.
Patterson draws on a variety of disciplines-including black feminism, civil rights history, cultural studies, and liberation theology-in order to develop a more nuanced formulation of black subjectivity and politics. His connection of the concept of racial rights to gender and sexual rights allows him to illuminate the literature's promotion of more expansive models. By considering the competing and varied political interests of black communities, these writers reimagine the dominant models in a way that can empower communities to be self-sustaining in the absence of a messianic male leader.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Charlottesville
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
361 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8139-3526-3 (9780813935263)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Robert J. Patterson is Assistant Professor of English and African American Studies at Georgetown University, USA.