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Critical Black Futures

Speculative Theories and Explorations

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  • © 2021

Overview

Editors:
  1. Philip Butler

    1. Iliff School of Theology, Denver, USA

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  • Uniquely incorporates queer, feminist, metahumanist, posthumanist, technological, scientific, mathematical metaphysical, performance, critical theoretical, popular culture, and digital warfare perspectives to critically analyze and speculatively imagine futuristic iterations of Black possibility

  • Deconstructs colonial connections to futuristic modes of world building/framing, while simultaneously holding in tension with the need to create from distantly Black perspectives, methodologies, and sources

  • Brings together leading scholars to critique current futuristic landscapes and speculatively imagine the future from various Black perspectives

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Table of contents (11 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-x
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Philip Butler
    Pages 1-18

  3. The Black Futures of W. E. B. Du Bois

    • Phillip Luke Sinitiere
    Pages 19-36

  4. A Black Tetratic Future: Blackness and the Age of Hyper-Exponentiation (Hyper-4)

    • Philip Butler
    Pages 37-60

  5. Towards an Afrofuturist Feminist Manifesto

    • Caitlin O’Neill
    Pages 61-91

  6. Writings on Dance: Artistic Reframing for Celestial Black Bodies

    • Raissa Simpson
    Pages 93-111

  7. A Disruptive Visual Respite: Stacey Robinson

    • Stacey Robinson
    Pages 113-117

  8. Black Radical Nationalist Theory and Afrofuturism 2.0

    • Reynaldo Anderson, Tommy J. Curry
    Pages 119-138

  9. Afrofuturism and Black Futurism: Some Ontological and Semantic Considerations

    • Damion Kareem Scott
    Pages 139-163

  10. Super Fluid/Super Black: Translations and Teachings in Transembodied Metaphysics

    • Ni’Ja Whitson
    Pages 165-180

  11. Race, Economics, and the Future of Blackness

    • Joshua Bartholomew
    Pages 181-205

  12. Newhampton: A Future Forward(ified) Black City in the United States

    • Philip Butler
    Pages 207-230
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Keywords

About this book

Critical Black Futures imagines worlds, afrofutures, cities, bodies, art and eras that are simultaneously distant, parallel, present, counter, and perpetually materializing. From an exploration of W. E. B. Du Bois’ own afrofuturistic short stories, to trans* super fluid blackness, this volume challenges readers—community leaders, academics, communities, and creatives—to push further into surreal imaginations. Beyond what some might question as the absurd, this book is presented as a speculative space that looks deeply into the foundations of human belief. Diving deep into this notional rabbit hole, each contributor offers a thorough excursion into the imagination to discover ‘what was’, while also providing tools to push further into the ‘not yet’.

Reviews

“Crafting a present from our future and a future from our past is the time shifting charge articulated by this book. Critical Black Futures engages the speculative with an eye to the future that acknowledges a complex history of agency, identity, and both pre and post colonial Black identities. Thinking on legacies and futures, Critical Black Futures maps identity in liminal spaces recognizing that the imagined future spaces and cultural production are portals of transformation.” (Ytasha L. Womack, Author of Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci Fi & Fantasy Culture)

“Drawing on a broad range ideas and scholarship from the humanities and the arts, Critical Black Futures is an indispensable guide to the intellectual landscape of Afrofuturism. Rooted in knowledge of the past, and looking ahead to craft visions of an uncertain future, Critical Black Futures is a crucial resource for anyone interested in what Blackness is and what it may become.” (David Livingstone Smith, Professor of Philosophy, University of New England.  Author of On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist It)

Editors and Affiliations

  • Iliff School of Theology, Denver, USA

    Philip Butler

About the editor

Philip Butler is an Assistant Professor of Theology and Posthuman Artificial Intelligence Systems at Iliff School of Theology. He is the founder of the Seekr Project, a distinctly Black conversational artificial intelligence with mental health capacities. His work primarily focuses on the intersection of neuroscience, technology, spirituality and race. He is the author of Black Transhuman Liberation Theology: Spirituality and Technology (2019).

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Critical Black Futures

  • Book Subtitle: Speculative Theories and Explorations

  • Editors: Philip Butler

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7880-9

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Singapore

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-15-7879-3Published: 31 March 2021

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-981-15-7882-3Published: 01 April 2022

  • eBook ISBN: 978-981-15-7880-9Published: 30 March 2021

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: X, 230

  • Number of Illustrations: 5 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Social Sciences, general, Social Anthropology

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