ABOUT THIS BOOK

Redefining the Political documents the political life of a community of Black women living below the poverty line. Alex Moffett-Bateau spent a year interviewing residents of a public housing development on the far South Side of Chicago about their politics, political communities, and how they create collective power.

Moffett-Bateau uses radical Black feminist political theory and develops a framework called the political possible-self, which argues that belonging to a community and developing political imagination foment change. These women employ grassroots efforts to subvert oppressive power structures by protesting institutions within their communities, addressing the benign neglect of their housing development, organizing community art shows and meals, volunteering at local public schools, and holding meetings to increase the political confidence of public-housing tenants by educating them on navigating government bureaucracies.

Ultimately, Redefining the Political shows how political engagement at both the individual and community levels can be fruitful for nontraditional political contributions.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Alex J. Moffett-Bateau is Assistant Professor of Political Science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York.

REVIEWS

“Moffett-Bateau argues that Black women’s political engagement has been othered because it does not align with traditional definitions or perceptions of what is considered political.... She examines how Black women engage within their communities, develop and foster a sense of belonging, and utilize power to exert their political prowess…. Moffett-Bateau masterfully incorporates her participants’ experiences.... Redefining the Political is a paradigm shifting contribution to political theory.... an exemplar for political theory concept development.”—Contemporary Sociology

"Redefining the Political introduces frameworks that recognize and document the everyday political identities and engagement of low-income Black women. These frameworks capture the extra-systemic politics that disenfranchised Black women engage in to advocate for basic survival.... The first part of the book lays out the conceptual formulations. The second part provides case studies that apply the frameworks to everyday women.... [T]he book provides useful tools for understanding how marginalized Black women create political power.... Summing Up: Recommended."—Choice

“[B]eautifully crafted and well-argued research.... One of the gems of this work is the careful attention to the genealogy of scholarship focusing on Black women and political engagement. This work beautifully carries the baton held by Zora Neale Hurston, Michele Berger, and Zenzele Isoke, among others, who study Black politics and Black women’s politics more specifically. It paves the way for future work by prompting us to consider how the theoretical frameworks, grounded in a radical Black feminist sensibility, can help us understand Diasporic Black women’s politics and political engagement without essentializing context and geographical factors, among many others.”—Political Science Quarterly

“[A]n in-depth analysis of what constitutes as 'politics' and 'political' for quotidian Black women who live below the poverty line.... Perhaps the most important aspect of Redefining the Political is its contribution to resistance politics as being deeply spatialized and rooted in community.... [T]his study is a valuable contribution to the literature on Black feminist politics, political participation, and ethnographic methods which will certainly leave its mark on all intended audiences.”—Ethnic and Racial Studies

"Grounded in radical Black feminist thought, this book critiques and explains the exclusionary nature of the traditional political system and addresses the political power and work of marginalized communities that go beyond said system. Moffett-Bateau utilizes practices of self-definition and power evaluation to spotlight Black women’s political identities and community-focused political efforts toward collective power…. Redefining the Political arms the reader with an analytical toolkit that aids in recognizing the contributions of Black marginalized communities whose political labor has been historically invisible."—Gender & Society

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

List of Tables and Figures

Preface

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

Part I: Recognizing Extrasystemic Politics via Black Feminist Political Theory

1: Introduction

2: Extrasystemic Politics and the Political Possible-Self

3: Black Folks in Chicago

Part II: Recognizing Extrasystemic Politics outside Academia and without Polling

4: The Visionary Axis of Political Imagination

5: The Liberatory Axis of Political Belonging

6: Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index

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