The Politics of Black Joy: Zora Neale Hurston and Neo-Abolitionism

During the antebellum period, slave owners weaponized southern Black joy to argue for enslavement, propagating images of "happy darkies." In contrast, abolitionists wielded sorrow by emphasizing racial oppression. Both arguments were so effective that a political uneasiness on the subject still lingers. In The Politics of Black Joy, Lindsey Stewart wades into these uncomfortable waters by analyzing Zora Neale Hurston's uses of the concept of Black southern joy.

Stewart develops Hurston's contributions to political theory and philosophy of race by introducing the politics of joy as a refusal of neo-abolitionism, a political tradition that reduces southern Black life to tragedy or social death. To develop the politics of joy, Stewart draws upon Zora Neale Hurston's essays, Beyoncé's Lemonade, and figures across several disciplines including Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. Du Bois, Toni Morrison, Angela Davis, Saidiya Hartman, Imani Perry, Eddie Glaude, and Audra Simpson. The politics of joy offers insights that are crucial for forming needed new paths in our current moment. For those interested in examining popular conceptions of Black political agency at the intersection of geography, gender, class, and Black spirituality, The Politics of Black Joy is essential reading.


Author: Lindsey Stewart
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
Published: 09/15/2021
Pages: 216
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.61lbs
Size: 6.00h x 8.80w x 0.60d
ISBN13: 9780810144132
ISBN10: 0810144131
BISAC Categories:
- Philosophy | History & Surveys | Modern
- Literary Criticism | American | African American & Black

About the Author
LINDSEY STEWART is an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Memphis.