Patricia Collins

BLACK
FEMINISM
Presented By Fathima Saniya
CONTENTS
1. Feminism
2.Standpoint Feminism
3.Assumptions of Standpoint Theory
4.Patricia Hill Collins
• Biography
• Feminist Theory & Methodology
• Black Feminism
• The Matrix Dominance
• Ways of Knowing
• Subjugated Knowledge
• Intersectionality
• Black Feminist Theory & Intersectionality
1.Conclusion
STAND POINT FEMINISM
• According to Harding, feminist standpoint theory emerged between the 1970s
and 1980s and originated from perspectives informed by Marxist thought and
late-twentieth-century social justice projects.
• Definition of Standpoint: An achieved position

based on social location that lends an
interpretative aspect to a person's life.
• Standpoint Theory: Provides framework for

understanding systems of power Everyday people,
not the elite, provide the framework for Standpoint
Theory
Assumptions of
Standpoint Theory
1.Individuals location in the class structure
shapes and limits their understandings of
social relations.
2.Feminist Standpoint Theory assumes that
all standpoints are partial, but those of the
ruling class can actually harm those of the
subordinate groups.
Assumptions of
Standpoint Theory
3. The ruling group structures life in such a way as
remove some choices from the subordinate group.
4. The subordinate group has to struggle for their

vision of social life.
5. The struggle results in a clearer, more accurate

vision for the subordinate group than that possessed
by the ruling class.
PATRICIA HILL COLLINS
BIOGRAPHY
• Born in 1948 as a factory worker's daughter,
became president of the ASA
• Began career as a schoolteacher- concerned with

critical theories of education and knowledge
production
• Draws on Smith's standpoint theory, but highlights

the unique experiences of Black women in the US
BIOGRAPHY
• ( Born: 1948 - 76 Years)
• BA from Brandeis, MA from Harvard, and PhD
from Brandeis
• Associate professor of sociology and African
American studies at University of Cincinnati
• Outsider within one is part of a group but feels
distant from that group
MAIN
CONCEPTS
• Critique of standpoint theory
• Development of
Intersectionality
• Black feminist epistemology
FEMINISM
• Belief in the social, political, and
economic equality of the sexes.
• The movement organized around

this belief.
FEMINIST THEORY &
METHDOLOGY
• The focus of sociological theory should be the
"outsider" groups
• Especially those that lack a "voice"
• Promotes using subjective analysis of the concrete
experiences
• Agrees with Harding on white/male interest
• Believes emotional concepts are important
• Individuals have their own reality constructs that are
linked to the groups to which they belong
BLACK FEMINISM
Black feminist thought=> placing black
women's lives and experiences at the
center of analysis; a post modern
approach to knowlegde production;
new concepts, paradigms and
epistomology
BLACK FEMINISM
• Outside within status of black slaves
• Black feminist though consists of ideas produced by black
women clarifying standpoint for and of black women
• Three key themes in black feminism:

1.The Meaning of Self-Definition and Self-Valuation
2.The Interlocking Nature of Oppression
3.The Importance of African-American Women's Culture
BLACK FEMINISM
1.The Meaning of Self-Definition and Self-Valuation
• Self-Definition - Challenging the political knowledge

validation process bringing stereotypical images of Afro-
American womanhood
• Self-Valuation - stresses the content of Black women's

self-definitions
BLACK FEMINISM
2. The Interlocking Nature of Oppression
• Gender, race, and class are interconnected

• Society has attempted to teach black women that racism,
sexism, and poverty are inevitable
• Keep black women oppressed
• Awareness will help black women unite their fight against
oppression and discrimination
BLACK FEMINISM
3. The Importance of African-American Women's Culture
Efforts to redefine and explain importance of Black

women's culture
• Uncovered new Black female experience
• Identified social relations where Afro-American women
pass on essentials to coping with oppression
BLACK FEMINISM
Sociological significance in two areas:
• Content of ideas has been influenced by on- going dialogue in

many sociological societies
• Process by which these ideas were produced
Women are gaining more of a "voice"
• Black women are still more accepted as authors in the

classroom, than as teachers
THE MATRIX DOMINANCE
• Collins directs the unique perspectives of Black feminism
towards one issue in particular- inequality and the complex
matrix of forces that produce inequality.
• Although Collins focuses on the uniqueness of a Black female

perspective, she is also invested in building alliances with other
perspectives- across races, genders, and classes.
• These alliances are only possible when we acknowledge our

unique perspectives and listen to those of others.
• According to Collins, inequality and oppression are the
result of several forces working hand in hand-the matrix of
domination.
• No one singular force is the cause of injustice. She identifies

class, race, and gender as the major forces that affect the
lives of Black women.
• She acknowledges that these forces also affect many

others, and that other issues come into play as well.
• Inequality functions on 3 levels:
1.Personal/Individual
2.Groups
3.Institutions/Societies
• At all 3 levels, we want to look not only at the domination that is
occurring, but also at the ways that people resist it and fight back.
• Resistance can only succeed when it sets its own terms. For the Black
women in Collins analysis, that means privileging the unique "ways of
knowing" that are held by Black women over and above the
institutionalized forms of knowledge that have been used as tools of
domination.
• If any of you feel that sometimes the readings in this course have
alienated you or left you out, that's important! Ask yourself how your
WAYS OF KNOWING
• Collins states, and perhaps it is obvious, that in order to produce Black
feminist theory, you have to be a Black woman.
• But that doesn't mean that those of us who are not Black women
cannot learn from Collins' ideas.
• Collins gives us a language for understanding our own unique ways of

making sense of the world. Most read Interse
• It is important to note that in many of our readings this semester, the

authors never identified themselves as White men. We have to wonder,
does their race and gender matter?
SUBJUGATED KNOWLEDGES
• All social groups have their own kinds of knowledge- own
map of how world works- including unique insights
produced from the social conditions in which they live
• But the knowledges of groups excluded from education

and the dominant public sphere is submerged or
subjugated- covered up and buried, not acknowledged.
• This makes it harder to investigate- so we must move

outside formal expertise and listen to voices in marginal
spaces.
INTERSECTIONALITY
• Intersectional Theory argues that most sociological theory
makes the mistake of examining only one variable at a
time.
• The basic premise is that variables work in groups.
• Intersectional Theory is particularly concerned with the
formation of social identities.
• At its most basic form, Intersectional Theory examines the
ways that gender, race, class, and sexuality work in
concert to create inequality-"interlocking systems of
oppression."
BLACK FEMINIST THOUGHT &
INTERSECTIONALITY
• The study of Black feminist thought is a specific
application of intersectionality that places Black women at
the center of analysis to study their experiences, their
actions, and their epistemologies.
• Intersectionality is a broader and more general theoretical

approach that can be used to examine any group or
community by placing them at the center and
understanding where they sit within the matrix of
domination.
CONCLUSION
Patricia Hill Collins is a renowned sociologist and feminist theorist
known for her groundbreaking work on intersectionality. Her
research primarily focuses on the interconnectedness of race,
class, and gender in shaping social inequalities. Collins argues
that these systems of oppression are not mutually exclusive but
rather work together to create unique experiences of
marginalization. Her contributions have significantly influenced
feminist theory and social justice movements, emphasizing the
importance of understanding and addressing multiple forms of
discrimination simultaneously.
THANK YOU

Patricia Collins

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BLACK

• Definition of Standpoint: An achieved position

• Standpoint Theory: Provides framework for

4. The subordinate group has to struggle for their

5. The struggle results in a clearer, more accurate

• Began career as a schoolteacher- concerned with

• Draws on Smith's standpoint theory, but highlights

• The movement organized around

• Three key themes in black feminism:

• Self-Definition - Challenging the political knowledge

• Self-Valuation - stresses the content of Black women's

• Gender, race, and class are interconnected

Efforts to redefine and explain importance of Black

• Content of ideas has been influenced by on- going dialogue in

Women are gaining more of a "voice"

• Black women are still more accepted as authors in the

• Although Collins focuses on the uniqueness of a Black female

• These alliances are only possible when we acknowledge our

• No one singular force is the cause of injustice. She identifies

• She acknowledges that these forces also affect many

• Collins gives us a language for understanding our own unique ways of

• It is important to note that in many of our readings this semester, the

• But the knowledges of groups excluded from education

• This makes it harder to investigate- so we must move

• Intersectionality is a broader and more general theoretical

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