One of my readings the last several days is Collins' (1998) Fighting Words. Each page has been filled with points of connection for me, particularly questions around the relationship between knowledge and power. Throughout the book, Collins places a lens over her positionality [and that of African-American women and subordinated groups more generally] within a "complex of organized practices, including government, law, business and financial mangement, professional organizations, and educational institutions, as well as the discourses in texts that interpret the multiple sites of power" (Smith, 1987, 3, cited in Collins).I'm intrigued by the ways that she shows how "theory cuts both ways," working "to reproduce existing power relations or to foster social and economic justice," and how it can even serve both ends. In Collins view, "doing social theory involves analyzing the changing aspects of social organization of social organization that affect people's everyday lives. Social theory is a body of knowledge and a set of institutional practices that actively grapple with the central questions facing a group of people in a specific political, social, and historical context. Instead of circulating exclusively as a body of decontextualized ideas among privileged intellectuals, social theory emerges from, is legitimated by, and reflects the concerns of actual groups of people in particular institutional settings. This definition creates a space for all types of groups to participate in theorizing about social issues. Moreover, it suggests that differences in perspective about social issues will reflect differences in the power of those who theorize" (xii).
To read some more, download Fighting Word's intro chapter.
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