From Black Power to Black Studies: How a Radical Social Movement Became an Academic Discipline (review)

In From Black Power to Black Studies: How a Radical Social Movement Became an Academic Discipline, sociologist Fabio Rojas effectively explores the key role that black nationalism played in the initiation, implementation and development of black studies as an academic discipline. Rojas argues that "black studies grew out of the disillusionment with the civil rights movement and the subsequent surge of black cultural nationalism."(207) He offers extensive evidence to support his claim, including analysis of historical documents and archival records as a means to explore case studies of the Third World Strike at San Francisco State College as well as the emergence of black studies at three universities: the University of Illinois at Chicago, the University of Chicago and Harvard University. He collects national data about black studies programs and their professors, and also conducts an extensive examination of Ford Foundation records in order to assess its role in supporting the development of black studies. Although vulnerable to minor criticism — such as his reliance on New York Times and Los Angeles Times coverage to assess incidents of black student protest (What about the many incidents not covered by these newspapers or by the media in general?) — overall, the empirical inquiry behind his book is quite rigorous. And as a read, portions of the book are outright compelling, including Rojas' chapters on the early influence of black nationalism on establishing the socio-political context for the eventual emergence of black studies ("The Road to Black Studies") and his detailed portrait of the Third World Strike ("Revolution at San Francisco State College").

From Black Power to Black Studies offers significant advances to scholarly understanding in two major areas: (1. details and insights about the emergence and development of black studies and ties to black nationalism (black power), and (2. sociological understanding of the connections between social movements and organizational change in the academy. In terms of the former, Rojas offers important observations about the key role students played in advancing the idea of black studies, including their role in promoting black nationalism by organizing black unions and developing tutoring and outreach programs in urban communities. Black student organizers also were adept at embracing innovative organizational structures, such as the Experimental College, and establishing the basis of a black studies curriculum through a variety of student-initiated courses.

In terms of broader sociological contributions, Rojas points to the challenges university faculty and staff faced in seeking to address social movement demands, often coming from black student activists, while also reconciling political pressures linked to various university constituencies, including legislative and governing bodies. He posits that universities are directly tied to their social environments and that external pressures often bear on administrative decisions and organizational outcomes. He further argues, that, "By definition, movement participants challenge what is accepted by society, thus causing problems for managers. For example, the black studies movement challenged the idea that the academic disciplines in 1968 were offering an education relevant for black students."(213)

Although social movements such as black studies seek to challenge and essentially alter university norms and practices, they are more likely to succeed if they reflect some elements of the culture of universities. In this regard, Rojas suggests that "movement-inspired organizational forms are often hybrids combining new politics and old values."(214) He supports such a conclusion by noting that successful black studies programs build on a model of rigorous academic work and research as academic black studies, in contrast to a community education model of black studies that targets the needs of minority communities and seeks to involve them in program-related decision making. The latter model presented a significant challenge to university elitism and traditional models of academic governance. As Rojas explains in discussing early efforts to advance black studies at two Chicago universities, "Community education failed at both campuses because it was incompatible with...