The Black Panther Party, a re-gendering of revolutionary subjectivity .

摘要

The Black Panther Party, a Re-Gendering of Revolutionary Subjectivity. (2011) Directed by Dr. Leila E. Villaverde. 119 pp. This thesis explores primary sources, historical content, and theoretical developments regarding gender, race and class both historical and contemporary to further investigate the Black Panther Party as a collective political body and individual identity. By using different perspectives of Marxism, Judith Butler's insight into gender construction and performativity, and formations of national liberation, a wide ranging and critical look at the everyday life of Party members, official Party theory, and trajectory of the Party a new understanding beings to emerge. My thesis concentrates on combining historical research of the Black Panther Party, analyzes the Party's theoretical development and how the Party theoretically understood its own politics, and seeks to merge the theory and practice of the BPP. In approaching the BPP from various perspectives and methods of research I discovered that gender and methods of gender construction played an immense role in Party organizing as well as how the Party is viewed as a researched subject. Different chapters of this thesis detail the individual transformative experience of members, Party history, historical criticisms, and theoretical critique of the Black Panther Party and gender identity.