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Revisiting Ideas and Ideologies in African-American Social Economy: From the Past Forward

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The Black Social Economy in the Americas

Part of the book series: Perspectives from Social Economics ((PSE))

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Abstract

The presentation re-visits ideas and ideologies of past African-American thinkers on economic development in a holistic manner, placing them in the context of their times. It is true that many of them advocated collectives, cooperatives, and group enterprise but were these an end in itself, or were they promoting such activities as a measure toward equal status in the USA, that is, until they could avail of equal economic opportunity on their own? In fact, even those who encouraged exclusion from the economic mainstream did not abandon the US territorial space or its market economy. Where necessary, collectives and cooperatives will provide the necessary boost for survival and developing opportunities for the betterment of African Americans.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    There is an ongoing controversy/debate regarding the importance of structural over cultural factors in perpetuating (in particular) African-American urban poverty. See Wilson (1987, 2009); Patterson (2006); Obama (2008).

  2. 2.

    The purpose of the Black capitalism program was interpreted in various ways. According to Andrew Brimmer, a Black member of the Federal Reserve Board between 1966 and 1974, it was meant to give Blacks collective income parity with Whites. Roy Innis of the Congress of Racial Equality felt that it was aimed at overcoming dependency and bringing about maximum broad-based control over the economic activities of African-American communities. See Bailey (1971).

  3. 3.

    In Atlanta alone, to take an example, Black shopping centers run by Black entrepreneurs proliferated. The West End Mall had nine Black businesses with 35% Black participation in ownership roles. In another mall, 95% of businesses had Black managers with 70% Black employees. The newspapers of the time were full of these stories. See, for instance, Atlanta Daily World, June 1, 1972, and Atlanta Inquirer, November 29, 1969.

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  1. Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

    Sanjukta Banerji Bhattacharya

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  1. Sanjukta Banerji Bhattacharya
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  1. York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Caroline Shenaz Hossein

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Bhattacharya, S.B. (2018). Revisiting Ideas and Ideologies in African-American Social Economy: From the Past Forward. In: Hossein, C. (eds) The Black Social Economy in the Americas. Perspectives from Social Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60047-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60047-9_2

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