Alienated Activism: The Process and Promise of Black Social Movements

How can we understand the emergence and processes of Black social movements? In my book, Alienated Activism: The Process and Promise of Black Social Movements I argue that, rather than patriotism or affinity for the United States, alienation has the power to bring Black people into social movements to solve intractable political problems. Black people respond to conditions of alienation with the traditions of organizing and political education. These practices create sustained action and emphasize alternative political values including: identity affirmation, collective action, and transformation. I describe this process as alienated activism.

To demonstrate the process of alienated activism, this book examines anti-carceral mobilizations in the city of Chicago from 2012 to 2023— during the Black Lives Matter (BLM) mass movement. With over 70 interviews with activists and organizers, as well as three organizational case studies, this study makes a significant contribution to how social scientists, students, and organizers can think about Black politics, social movements, and the ways the BLM movement revived Black activism for a new era.