African American Contributions to the Americas’ Cultures: A Critical Edition of Lectures by Alain Locke (African American Philosophy and the African Diaspora) - Softcover

“This book will be an important contribution to scholarship and courses that address American philosophy, African-American studies, cultural studies, Inter-American philosophy, and Locke studies.  This series of lectures brings together many aspects of Locke’s earlier writings.  This book will provide an important framework for exploring those earlier essays as well as standing on it’s own as an important contribution to cultural studies, theories of democracy, and American philosophy.  Carter’s commentary provides important and insightful analysis that will help readers enter into Locke’s thinking and will help bring Locke’s thought to bear on important issues contemporary democracies face―increasing recognition of cultural pluralism while confronting the legacy of imperialism, slavery, and racial prejudice.  Human pluralism and interdependence are as important today for true democracy as they were when Locke first delivered these lectures.  Democracy constantly demands more of people and Locke’s analysis demonstrates the importance of this for individuals, nations, and the international community.  I am excited about the possibility of using this book in courses on Locke, on American philosophy, on social and political philosophy, and on race and cultural studies.” (Erin McKenna, University of Oregon, Eugene)

“Finally, Alain Locke’s Haiti lectures of 1943 are accessible to the Anglophone world. In these lectures, Locke extends beyond Harlem and the U.S. to discuss the cultural contributions, particularities, and common denominators of Afrodescendant peoples in North and Latin America (including the West Indies). Jacoby Adeshei Carter’s incisive introductory essay masterfully situates Locke as a transnational thinker, a critical pragmatist with nuanced and tenable conceptions of culture, race, imperialism, and democracy. This critical edition is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the philosophy of race, Africana philosophy, Inter-American philosophy, cultural pluralism, or pragmatism.” (Lee A. McBride III, The College of Wooster)