The Philosophy and Politics of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.

AFRAMER 134Y Subject & Catalog Number

Description

This seminar for graduate students and undergraduates with backgrounds in political theory, philosophy, or African American Studies undertakes a rigorous examination of the political  lives and philosophical thought of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Through their speeches, writings, debates, and unpublished texts, we will engage critically with their evolving visions of justice, democracy, and social transformation. We will read both figures in dialogue with their intellectual influences and critics to evaluate their views of liberalism, nationalism, civil disobedience, political violence, self-defense, internationalism, political theology, democracy, war, and economic justice among other themes. By studying these towering figures side by side, this course will illuminate fundamental questions about political ethics, racial justice, and the possibilities and limits of radical social change in the past and present.