CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE AND BLACK POLITICS
Contemplative Praxis and Politics 2025 DOI: 10.4324/9781003543329-5 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that Black contemplative practice and Black politics are mutually reinforcing and multidirectional, advancing projects ranging from apolitical refuge to radical abolition. Contemplative practice can politicize individuals, and political struggle can motivate practice; alignment enhances both, while conflict prompts reconsideration. |
Abstract
This chapter addresses the complex, mutually reinforcing relationship between contemplative practice, Black people&s;s engagement in contemplative practice, and Black politics. We consider contemplative practices sourced from various spiritual, religious, and secular traditions and reflect on how they integrate with political praxis. Our analysis draws from scholarship on Black contemplative praxis, Black politics, and the Black Radical Tradition; from Black memoir and public writing; and from our experiences as queer Black feminist scholars engaged in contemplative praxis. We see the relationship between Black politics and contemplative practice as multidirectional. Contemplative practice can politicize people directly or indirectly, and political work or struggle can motivate one to pursue these practices. Contemplative practice and political action can enhance one another when they are aligned or prompt reconsideration when they conflict. We argue that Black contemplative practice has advanced diverse political projects, ranging from apolitical projects focused on refuge to individualist neoliberalism to politically radical projects centering survival amidst injustice. We discuss several forms of political contemplative practice in this chapter, directing particular attention toward the intersection between Black contemplative practice and radical struggles for collective liberation, transformation, and abolition.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |