The Framework for Black Feminist Thought:
★ BFT is a framework
- Belongs to the sociological school of thought called critical theory-
focused on evaluating society in order to effect change rather than
just explain its structure
- Aims to empower African American women within the context of
social justice sustained by intersecting oppressions
Patricia Hill Collins:
- Worked in educational setting for a few years before returning to get
her PhD in sociology
Standpoint Theory:
● Epistemological
● Knowledge is related to social class
● The higher the class, the more access to knowledge
● Marginalized groups have a special, experimental knowledge
● Black women have a standpoint that is unique and valuable to
society
Matrix of Dominance:
- Widely recognized model
- Establishes race, gender, and class as interlocking systems of
oppression
Self-Definition:
- Marginalized groups of inherently identify themselves through their
oppressor’s eyes
- To overcome this, these groups must self-evaluate and redefine
themselves for themselves
Negative Premises, Symbols, and Hierarchies:
- Recognizes the establishment of the negative and of hierarchies but
asserts that these paradigms aid the oppression of marginalized
groups
- Negation and hierarchies use either or principles but not both
★ BFT is a framework
- Belongs to the sociological school of thought called critical theory-
focused on evaluating society in order to effect change rather than
just explain its structure
- Aims to empower African American women within the context of
social justice sustained by intersecting oppressions
Patricia Hill Collins:
- Worked in educational setting for a few years before returning to get
her PhD in sociology
Standpoint Theory:
● Epistemological
● Knowledge is related to social class
● The higher the class, the more access to knowledge
● Marginalized groups have a special, experimental knowledge
● Black women have a standpoint that is unique and valuable to
society
Matrix of Dominance:
- Widely recognized model
- Establishes race, gender, and class as interlocking systems of
oppression
Self-Definition:
- Marginalized groups of inherently identify themselves through their
oppressor’s eyes
- To overcome this, these groups must self-evaluate and redefine
themselves for themselves
Negative Premises, Symbols, and Hierarchies:
- Recognizes the establishment of the negative and of hierarchies but
asserts that these paradigms aid the oppression of marginalized
groups
- Negation and hierarchies use either or principles but not both
