Much more than power: the pedagogy of promiscuous black feminism

Abstract

This paper explores promiscuous black feminism by juxtaposing black feminism, Foucualt’s poststructuralism, and my grandmother. The tensions created by these juxtapositions illuminate the ways black feminism and poststructuralism are resources and challenges to each other, and how both offer understandings of the relations at play that shape identities and lives. Making use of these theories and lessons from my grandmother, I explore the necessity and dangers of experience in theorizing power and vulnerability in theorizing experience. Focusing on experiences and feminist lessons from my grandmother, I propose that much more than power is at play.

Keywords:

• Foucault
• power
• vulnerability
• experience
• black feminism