Pearl K. Ford Dowe’s research while affiliated with Emory University and other places

The Radical Imagination of Black Women: Ambition, Politics, and Power explores how elite Black women decide to seek political office. Despite their marginalized existence, Black women engage in robust political participation that includes seeking elected office. Utilizing interviews of Black women who currently or have served in office and focus group data of Black women, the manuscript bridges the literatures of ambition theory and marginalization through a theory referred to as “ambition on the margins.” Black women’s resistance to marginalization informs us about the conditions that shape Black women and their political socialization, while ambition theory helps us understand what they do in response to marginalization. The socialization process fosters the decision-making process of Black women. This framework moves the extant literature beyond the premise that the political ambition of Black women is less than white women or men. Political science’s approach to ambition negates and disregards mechanisms beyond voting that Black women often engage in, such as doing political work through community and civic organizations. That data provided from interviews reveal the complex dynamics that contribute to the nuanced process that Black women emerge as candidates and engage as politicians.

Previous literature on women and political ambition has shown that the ambition of potential candidates is often shaped by career paths that develop the kinds of skills useful for navigating the political environment. These studies often did not include the experiences of Black women who chose to run for office. Utilizing data from interviews with Black women elected officials across the country I offer that the key to making the decision to run for office is the unique socialization process of Black women. This process is shaped by generational examples of service, familial and community nurturing that encourages striving for excellence, and a sense of obligation to do work and not just hold a title. I find that though Black women at times initially doubt their ability to be successful in politics they often overcome these doubts as a result of encouragement by peers and community members who remind them of the skills they developed from their community and political work. They are also motivated to work to meet the needs of their communities. These experiences provide further understanding of how Black women purposefully engage within their communities and develop a standing that allows for their potential success as candidates.

Resisting Marginalization: Black Women’s Political Ambition and Agency - Pearl K. Ford Dowe

Black Feminism Reimagined: After Intersectionality. By Jennifer C. Nash. Durham: Duke University Press, 2019. 184 pp. $23.95 (paperback),$89.95 (hardback) - Pearl K. Dowe