The Quest for Community and Identity Critical Essays in Africana Social Philosophy

by Birt, Robert E.; Bush, Rod; Carew, George; Cokley, Kevin; Farr, Arnold; Goodin, Patrick; Gordon, Lewis R.; Harris, Leonard; Headley, Clevis; Henry, Paget; James, Joy; Jones, Richard A.; Sharpley-Whiting, Tracy Denean; Souffrant, Eddy

• ISBN13: 9780742512917
• ISBN10: 0742512916
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-12-20
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

This collection of essays engages two of the most fundamental social and political issues of our time: community and identity. Wrestling with the perplexities of these two issues within the Africana world, the contributors delve into the influences of a postmodern world of globalization with outdated, crumbling forms of identity and sociality. In the wake of such an order, new forms of identity and community must be established.

Author Biography

Cover design: Authentic kente fabric from Ghana.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(14)
Robert E. Birt
Part 1: Exploring Perplexities of Identity
Racism, Historical Ruins, and the Task of Identity Formation	15	(14)
Arnold Farr
To Be or Not to Be Black: Problematics of Racial Identity	29	(16)
Kevin Cokley
Postmodernism, Narrative, and the Question of Black Identity	45	(28)
Clevis Headley
Du Bois and Appiah: The Poltics of Race and Racial Identity	73	(14)
Patrick Goodin
Part 2: In Quest of Community: Sociality and Situated Freedom
Of the Quest for Freedom As Community	87	(18)
Robert E. Birt
Sociality and Community in Black: A Phenomenological Essay	105	(22)
Lewis R. Gordon
Part 3: Historical Crises of Identity and Community
Visions of Transcendent Community in the Works of Toni Morrison	127	(16)
Joy James
Paulette Nardal, Race Consciousness, and Antillean Letters	143	(16)
Tracy Denean Sharpley-Whiting
The Revival of Black Nationalism and the Crisis of Liberal Universalism	159	(26)
Rod Bush
Commodification and Existence in African American Communities	185	(26)
Paget Henry
Part 4: Liberalism, Postmodernism, and the Quest for Community
Black Philosphy As a Challenge to Liberalism	211	(18)
Eddy Souffrant
Democracy, Transitional Justice, and Postcolonial African Communities	229	(14)
George Carew
Community: What Type of Entity and What Type of Moral Commitment?	243	(14)
Leonard Harris
Theorizing Black Community	257	(28)
Richard A. Jones
Selected Bibliography	285	(2)
Index	287	(2)
About the Contributors	289