Key Texts in Critical Social Theory and Race Studies

What is the title of Walter Rodney's work published in 1972?

How Europe Underdeveloped Africa

Which influential political document was co-authored by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848?

Communist Manifesto

Who wrote 'How Capitalism Works' in 1977?

Pierre Jalee

What is the title of Walter Rodney's 1975 work?

Marxism in Africa

What significant work did Max Weber publish in 1904?

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

Who authored 'Max Weber: A Critical Introduction' in 2004?

Kieran Allen

What is the title of W.E.B. DuBois's 1903 publication?

The Souls of Black Folk

Which book did W.E.B. DuBois publish in 1935?

Black Reconstruction

What is the title of Frantz Fanon's 1961 work?

The Wretched of the Earth

Who wrote 'Black Bourgeoisie' in 1957?

E. Franklin Frazier

What is the title of Robert L. Allen's 1969 book?

Black Awakening in Capitalist America

Who authored 'World-systems Analysis: An Introduction' in 2004?

Immanuel Wallerstein

What is the title of Michel Foucault's 1977 work?

Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings

Which book did Angela Davis publish in 1981?

Women, Race, and Class

What is the title of the 2017 work by the Combahee River Collective?

How We Get Free

Who wrote 'Black Feminist Thought in the Matrix of Domination' in 1990?

Patricia Hill Collins

What is the title of Kimberle Crenshaw's 2000 work?

The Structural and Political Dimensions of Intersectional Oppression

What is the title of Edward Said's 1984 publication?

Permission to Narrate

Martin Luther's 95 Theses

Originally calling for reform of the Catholic Church, Martin Luther wrote the 95 theses. 2 main beliefs: 1. the Bible is the central religious authority 2. humans may reach salvation by their faith. This sparked the Protestant reformation (1517)

Copernicus, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres

Copernicus' revelation that the planets revolve around the sun led him to discover that the Earth spins on its axis and that 1 orbit around the sun takes 1 year. This marked the beginning of the Scientific Revolution (1543)

Rene Descartes' Discourse on Method

nothing at all was certain; aimed to establish more secure philopsophical foundations, those of mathematics and logic; argued that mathematical and mechanical principles provided the key to understanding all of nature, including the actions of people and states; "I think, therefore I am"; "clearly and distinctly" (1637)

Outbreak of French Revolution

The storming of Bastille on July 14, 1789 marked the start of the revolution. The revolution came about because the masses were starving at the hands of French aristocrats (1789)

Haiti wins independence; first successful slave revolution in history

Then named St. Domingue, the French colony rose against the French, brutally slaughtering their enslavers. They became the first independent black state in the New World (1791-1804)

James Watt begins Industrial Revolution

By improving the steam engine and patenting it in 1769, his more efficient model enabled the machine to be used in factories. Thus, beginning the Industrial Revolution. (1769)

Emancipation Proclamation

President Abraham Lincoln's proclamation issued on January 1, 1863, that legally abolished slavery in all states that remained out of the Union. While the Emancipation Proclamation did not immediately free a single slave, it signaled an end to the institution of slavery.

Berlin Conference

A meeting from 1884-1885 at which representatives of European nations agreed on rules colonization of Africa. Most countries were split among France, Germany, Great Britain, and Portugal

Outbreak of WWI

Sparked by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by a Serbian nationalist, causing the July Crisis. Austria-Hungary then declared war on Serbia, the allies then moved to defend their respective sides. (1914)

Russian Revolution begins

The Industrial Revolution in Russia led to overcrowding & destitute living for Russian industrial workers. Large protests against the monarchy led to the Bloody Sunday Massacre where hundreds of unarmed protesters were killed & injured. This sparked the Russian Revolution (1905)

Stock Market Crash initiates the Great Depression

The Stock Market crash began on Black Thursday & pivoted into the Great Depression on Black Tuesday. This was a result of the credit bubble burst and subsequent bank runs. (1929)

Nazi Party takes power in Germany

Adolf Hitler, Nazi party candidate for chancellor, was appointed by German president Paul von Hindenburg in 1933. Months later, the Enabling Act was passed which allowed Hitler to pass laws without the Reichstag's consent, essentially making him dictator (1933)

Nazi Germany invades Poland

Initiating WWII, Nazis used a staged attack on a German radio station to provide reason for an invasion on Poland. They utilized the Blitzkrieg method, attacking on all sides and quickly taking power. (1939)

End of WWII

germany surrenders on may 8, 1945

US drops atomic bombs on Nagasaki, Hiroshima Japan surrenders months later. (1945)

Nakba

the Palestinian Arab Exodus from Palestine/Israel in 1948 after the state of Israel had been established. Arabs were forced out of the country violently and through civil war by the newly-born Israelis (1948)

People's Republic of China established

After a full-scale civil war between the CCP & the Nationalist Party following WWII, the CCP took victory and established the PRC. (1927)

The conflict between the two parties began in 1927 when the NP (KMT), killed and purged members of the CCP from government.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

protest in 1955-1956 by African Americans against racial segregation in bus system of Montgomery, Alabama. sparked by the organizer Rosa Parks' refusal to give her seat up to a white man on a Montgomery bus (1955-56)

Algeria wins independence from France

Motivated by unfulfilled promises of sovereignty, the NLF began the fight for independence on both military and diplomatic fronts. French forces managed to regain control after the Battle of Algiers but France eventually granted Algeria independence (1959)

Tet Offensive

National Liberation Front and North Vietnamese forces launched a huge attack on the Vietnamese New Year (Tet), which was defeated after a month of fighting and many thousands of casualties; major defeat for communism, but Americans reacted sharply, with declining approval of LBJ and more anti-war sentiment (1968)

rebellions after MLK's assassination

Now known as The Holy Week, following Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s death widespread urban uprisings and riots took over the US. The government deployed the National Guard and Army troops to quell unrest (1968)

May Student-Revolt Paris

Led by provocateur and leader, Daniel Cohn-Bendt, a series of protests broke out among university students on the Navarre campus against their repressive and controlling administration. Students were arrested, prompting the March 22nd movement demanding their release. By May 10, there were 40,000 students protesting leading to serious education reform across France.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Abortion rights fall within the privacy implied in the 14th amendment (1973)

Nixon Shock/Nixon devalues the dollar

President Nixon declared the prohibition of the exchange between gold & dollars in response to inflation. This was an effect of a series of economic measures, including wage & price freezes, surcharges on imports, and the unilateral cancellation of the direct int'l convertibility of the USD to gold.

Ronald Reagan elected president

1980; beats jimmy Carter

Sabra and Shatila Massacre

The mass killing of mostly Palestinians by a Lebanese Christian Phalangist militia that took place in September 1982 during the Israel-Lebanon war. Israel facilitated the massacre and were responsible due to the little effort they showed to stop it. Between 2,000-3,500 people were killed in the span of 43 hours.

us first invades iraq

following suspicion that Saddam Hussein was harboring weapons of Mass Destruction in his region and had ties to Al-Qaeda, the Bush administration carried out mass "shock-and-awe" bombings. they then carried out a ground invasion, justified as a necessity in the war on terror as a result of 9/11.

9/11

Terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon by Al-Qaeda; led to a focus on eliminating terrorism.

Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers

A pivotal moment in the financial crisis of 2008, it was the largest bankruptcy claim in US history. The failure was largely attributed to the firm's heavy involvement in the subprime mortgage market. (2008)

George Floyd's murder and global outrage

After the public murder of George Floyd, the unarmed black man, at the hands of a police officer, some of the largest BLM protests in history occurred.

Epistemology

the theory of knowledge, the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion

development - Walter Rodney

an overall social process which is dependent upon the outcome of man's efforts to deal with his natural environment

underdevelopment - Walter rodney

a means of comparing levels of development; tied to the fact that human social development has been uneven

colonialism

Attempt by one country to establish settlements and to dominate by imposing its political, economic, and cultural principles in another territory.

Historical Materialism (Marx)

the assumption that material forces are the prime movers of history and politics; a key philosophical tenet of Marxism

Mode of Production

Marx; defined by the level attained by its productive forces, and by the type of relations of production in operation

forces of production

in Marxist theory, this refers to the whole range of means available to human beings for mastering nature and producing material goods to satisfy their needs

Relations of Production (Marx)

the relationship between those who own the means of production (the capitalists or bourgeoisie) and those who do not (the workers or the proletariat)

Bourgeoisie

the middle class, including merchants, industrialists, and professional people

Proletariat

Marx's term for the exploited class, the mass of workers who do not own the means of production

Capitalism

an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the people.

Feudalism

A system of government based on landowners and tenants that follows a hierarchy of land ownership

Aristocracy

the highest class in certain societies, especially those holding hereditary titles or offices.

peasantry (peasant)

The class of rural, agricultural laborers.

Communism

A theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.

Socialism

a political theory advocating state ownership of industry

Use value vs. exchange value

The usefulness of a commodity vs. the exchange equivalent by which the commodity is compared to other objects on the market.

Labor Theory of Value

The belief that all value in produced goods is derived from labor

surplus value

In Marxist theory, the value of a worker's labor power left over when an employer has repaid the cost of hiring the worker.

worldly asceticism

max weber; a focus on fulfilling one's worldly duties & obligations as a path to spiritual fulfillment and demonstrating religious merit

Verstehen (Weber)

understanding social behavior by putting yourself in the place of others

talented tenth

W.E.B. Dubois' concept of an elite group of college educated African-Americans who would use their talents and position to eradicate segregation in American society

three major paradigms of us sociology

the symbolic interactionist perspective, the functionalist perspective, and the conflict perspective

Colonized Intellectual

a go-between who translates the colonized for the colonizer, in the colonizer's language and for the political, social, and cultural purposes of the colonizer. ; Fanon

Black Bourgeoisie

Middle class black people who traded their cultural identity for the chance of a place among white people ; Frazier

the social myth of black business

the idea that simply supporting Black-owned businesses is a sufficient solution to racial inequality

Neo-colonialism

The entrenchment of the colonial order, such as trade and investment, under a new guise.

unit of analysis

the main entity a researcher focuses on when investigating a social phenomenon. This can be individuals, groups, organizations, social interactions, or even artifacts

Micro systems

in the ecological perspective on human development, the immediate settings in which adolescents develop, such as the family or the peer group

world empires

world empires: group of mini systems that have been absorbed into common political system.

world economies

a world-system in which the dominant system

is economic, characterized by market exchange

axial division of labor

the uneven distribution of production and labor within a capitalist world-economy

Core countries

In world-systems theory, the core countries are the industrialized, capitalist countries on which periphery and semi-periphery countries depend. Core countries control the global economy.

periphery countries

the least developed and least powerful nations; often exploited by the core countries as sources of raw materials, cheap labor, and markets

semi-periphery countries

nations ranking in between core and periphery countries, with some attributes of the core countries but with less of a central role in the global economy

subjugated knowledges

Foucault; subjugated knowledges are bodies of knowledge that have been marginalized or disqualified by dominant groups or discourses. These can include the knowledge of oppressed groups, local knowledge, or non-scientific knowledge.

genealogy

a historical method that traces the development of concepts, discourses, and practices, paying attention to power relations and discontinuities, rather than seeking linear progressions

identity politics

political mobilization and action based on shared experiences of oppression or injustice by social groups defined by attributes such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or religion.

triple oppression

inequality due to overlapping racism, sexism, and classism

standpoint epistemology

a philosophical perspective that what we can know is affected by the position we occupy in society

reconstruction

rebuilding of the South after the Civil War that failed to provide equity for black freed folks

psychological wage

a form of compensation for white workers, who, despite low economic wages, received a sense of superiority and status due to their race