To Shape a New World
Essays on the Political Philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr.
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
“Fascinating and instructive…King’s philosophy, speaking to us through the written word, may turn out to constitute his most enduring legacy.”
—Annette Gordon-Reed, New York Review of Books
Martin Luther King, Jr., is one of America’s most revered figures, yet despite his mythic stature, the significance of his political thought remains underappreciated. In this indispensable reappraisal, leading scholars—including Cornel West, Martha Nussbaum, and Danielle Allen—consider the substance of his lesser known writings on racism, economic inequality, virtue ethics, just-war theory, reparations, voting rights, civil disobedience, and social justice and find in them an array of compelling challenges to some of the most pressing political dilemmas of our time.
“King was not simply a compelling speaker, but a deeply philosophical intellectual…We still have much to learn from him.”
—Quartz
“A compelling work of philosophy, all the more so because it treats King seriously without inoculating him from the kind of critique important to both his theory and practice.”
—Los Angeles Review of Books
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this robust and wide-ranging collection, Shelby and Terry assemble essays about King's legacy as a political philosopher. The book as a whole displays the pliability and dynamism of King's thought, applying it to circumstances both recent (Barack Obama's presidency) and far in the past (the practice of slavery in 18th- and 19th-century America). Throughout, King's voice is placed within a community of philosophers. Robert Gooding-Williams, a Columbia professor of African-American studies, addresses the contrasting viewpoints of W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington and illuminates how King created a distinct approach by drawing on both Du Bois's militant resistance to racial injustice and Washington's thesis that hatred of the oppressor reduces one's dignity. Ronald Sundstrom, a professor and former chair of the philosophy department at the University of San Francisco, complicates concepts of color-blindness often ascribed to King, highlighting ways in which he supported "color-conscious remedies." Coeditor Shelby's essay demonstrates the continued relevance of King's conception of economic justice to present-day African-American economic struggles. As the nation approaches the 50th anniversary of King's assassination, this work demonstrates, for anyone who needs convincing, the continued and vital importance of his thinking.
