In this Book
- The Concept of Self: A Study of Black Identity and Self-Esteem
- Book
- 2001
- Published by: Wayne State University Press
- Series: African American Life Series
summary
Institutional racism has had a major impact
on the development of African American self-esteem and group identity. Through the years, African Americans have developed strong, tenacious concepts of self partially based on African cultural and philosophical retentions and as a reaction to historical injustices. The Concept of Self examines the historical basis for the widely misunderstood ideas of how African Americans think of themselves individually, and how they relate to being part of a group that has been subjected to challenges of their very humanity.
Richard Allen examines past scholarship on
African American identity to explore a wide
range of issues leading to the formation of an
individual and collective sense of self. Allen
traces the significance of social forces that have impinged on the lives of African Americans and points to the uniqueness of their position in American society. He then focuses on the results from the National Survey of Black Americans—a national survey of African Americans on a wide range of political, social, and psychological issues—to develop a model of African self. Allen explores the idea of double-consciousness
as put forth by W.E.B. DuBois against the more recent debates of Afrocentricity or an African-centered consciousness. He proposes a set of interrelated hypotheses regarding how African Americans might use an African worldview for the upliftment of Africans in the Diaspora.
The Concept of Self will interest students and scholars of African American studies, sociology and population studies
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- List of Figures
- p. 7
- List of Tables
- pp. 9-10
- Acknowledgments
- p. 11
- Introduction
- pp. 13-14
- Part III: Theory Construction
- pp. 123-178
- Appendixes
- pp. 179-198
- References
- pp. 203-217
Additional Information
ISBN
9780814338315
Related ISBN(s)
9780814328989
MARC Record
OCLC
777596390
Pages
224
Launched on MUSE
2012-08-07
Language
English
Open Access
No