Joy A. James

Photo of Joy A. James

Ebenezer Fitch Professor of Humanities

413-597-4867
Hollander Hall Rm 113

Education

B.A. St Marys University (1980)
M.A. Fordham University, International Politics (1982)
Ph.D. Fordham University, Political Philosophy (1987)

Areas of Expertise

Political theory
Human rights
Antiblackness and genocide
Feminisms
Abolitionisms

Courses

PSCI 210 / AFR 210 / AMST 210 / INTR 210 / WGSS 210 SEM

Culture and Incarceration (not offered 2024/25)

INTR 219 / AFR 217 / AMST 217 / LEAD 219 / PSCI 219 / WGSS 219 TUT

Women and Girls in (Inter)National Politics (not offered 2024/25)

INTR 341 / AFR 340 / PHIL 341 / PSCI 373 SEM

Black Marxism: Political Theory and Anti-Colonialism (not offered 2024/25)

Scholarship/Creative Work

Transcending the Talented Tenth
Resisting State Violence

Seeking the ‘Beloved Community’

Editor: The Angela Y. Davis Reader
Co-editor: The Black Feminist Reader

Anthologies on radical politics and abolitionism include:
The New Abolitionists
Imprisoned Intellectuals
Warfare in the American Homeland

About

Joy James is Ebenezer Fitch Professor of Humanities at Williams College. She is the author of Resisting State ViolenceShadowboxing: Representations of Black Feminist Politics, Transcending the Talented Tenth and Seeking the Beloved Community. James has published numerous articles on: political theory, police, prison and slavery abolition; radicalizing feminisms; diasporic anti-black racism; and US politics; and writes on the Captive Maternal through the lens of “The Womb of Western Theory.” Creator of the digital Harriet Tubman Literary Circle at UT Austin https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/7828, James is editor of The New Abolitionists: (Neo)Slave Narratives and Contemporary Prison Writings; Imprisoned Intellectuals;Warfare in the American Homeland; The Angela Y. Davis Reader; and co-editor of the Black Feminist Reader. James’s most recent books include: In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love and New Bones Abolition: Captive Maternal Agency and the Afterlife of Erica Garner.

Personal website