Many of you have probably seen the excellent “Ferguson Syllabus” created by Sociologists for Justice, which has been circulated widely over the last several days and which provides a collection of research articles used to inform the arguments and positions represented in their Statement on Ferguson.  I strongly encourage you to keep circulating that document, and to use Sociologists’ for Justice suggested hashtag #socforjustice when you do.

If you work in academia but outside of a Sociology Department, as I do, I suspect you’ve thought to yourself how helpful it would be if a corresponding syllabus were produced and circulated for your own discipline, as I have.  (Would that it were the case that professional Philosophers could agree on something like a”Statement on Ferguson,” but I’m not holding my breath for that!)  Below, I’ve attempted to BEGIN the construction of a “Ferguson Syllabus” for the discipline of Philosophy.  The list of materials I have here is, of course, non-exhaustive and incomplete, so I welcome any amendments or additions from readers who specialize in Philosophy, Political Theory, Critical Race Studies and the like.


Just leave your suggestions in the comments section to this post, and I will do my best to amend this draft version of a “Ferguson Syllabus for Philosophers” in a timely manner.  I’ve listed only books here– no articles– because an emphasis on primary material is the prevailing custom in the (somewhat limited) area of Philosophy in which I work.  But I’ve also included a separate list of anthologies that include many, if not most, of the seminal philosophical works in race theory and (broadly speaking) Enlightenment/democratic theory.  As anyone who has ever attempted to construct a “new” syllabus knows, crowdsourcing via social media–or just regular old flesh-and-blood social networks– is a tremendous help when one finds oneself up against the daunting challenge of teaching new material (or teaching familiar material in new ways). I invite you all to help in this endeavor.

Following the lead of Sociologists for Justice, I will ask that you use the hashtag #philosophersforjustice when you share this syllabus on Facebook, Twitter or other social media.

Primary Readings (Monographs):

Primary Readings (Anthologies/Collections):
The texts above aim to familiarize students with the primary source material sufficient to understand the advent and history of the concept of “race,” its development, maturation and mutation since the Enlightenment, its displacement by and yet continuing influence on “theory” (broadly speaking) and theoretically-oriented academic disciplines (like Philosophy) specifically, its critique and reformulation by and/or in the interest of people of color, and its deep and abiding connection with political, social, carceral and institutional power-regimes and empowered groups.

**UPDATE**
Supplementary Readings:
(The following texts are collected from readers’ suggestions  in the comments selection below.  I will continue to update this section as more titles are submitted.)

One last solicitation: I’d like to especially encourage my friends and colleagues in History, Modern Languages and Literatures, Political Science and Economics/Political Economy departments to consider drafting their own versions of a “Ferguson Syllabus,” in part because it serves my own interdisciplinary interests but in larger part because it serves academia.

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