The Atlanta School of Black Political Science: Research Paradigm, Foci & Traditions

The Dr. Mack Henry Jones Department of Political Science centers the lives of Black folk in our pursuit of systematic understanding of local, national, transnational, and global politics. Our scholarly vision is both expansive and targeted; it embraces the world, and is anchored in the standpoints, knowledge needs and liberatory advocacy of peoples of African descent. W. E. B. Du Bois affirmed this vision in 1940 when introducing the Atlanta University new research journal Phylon declaring “we hope to look at all groups of men. Naturally we shall usually proceed from the point of view and experience of the black folk where we live and work, to the wider world.”[1] In line with our responsibilities as Black political scientists, our scholarly goal is to contribute systemic, verifiable, reproducible knowledge of our political realities which can serve the needs of public policy advocacy and social change.

 

The research enterprise is at the core of our Atlanta School of Black Political Science. Pursuing understanding of the social world in order to advocate for and shape social change demands sound scholarship. It requires accurate information derived from systematic data gathering, and analyses designed to produce substantial knowledge and sustain findings and applied conclusions against detractors. Mack H. Jones, the founding chair of our doctoral program, and among the foremost African American and US political scientists, has long argued that “mainstream social science … does not serve the interests of those who seek fundamental transformation of existing relations”; that “for the oppressed there is a need for a different body of social science knowledge”; and, therefore, “existing putative social science knowledge must be approached with a vigilant skepticism.”[2] Addressed here are matters of conflicting worldviews, lived experiences, social commitment, scholarly training, and the descriptive and explanatory relevance of US political science.

 

Faculty and student scholars build out the purpose and substance of the Atlanta School of Black political science. Faculty research focusing on the political advocacy and activism, predicaments and triumphs of African Americans and global communities of people of African descent animate the subject matter and sub-field concentrations of our curriculum.  Our curriculum provides our student scholars analytical pathways through the intellectual challenges involved in conducting political science research. Undergraduate, masters, and doctoral scholars must demonstrate their grasp and facility as researchers by completing theses or dissertations which address substantial empirical and/or philosophical political questions. Graduate students are required to present their research at the Departmental Seminar. They are also encouraged and financially supported to present at academic conferences, and publish in peer-reviewed journals. The goal of our Atlanta School is to prepare scholars skilled in the understanding of politics and committed to scholarship that serves a good greater than merely the advancement of individual careers.

 

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[1] W. E. B. Du Bois, “Apology,” Phylon, Vol. 1, No. 1 (First Quarter, 1940), 3-5.

[2] Mack H. Jones, Mack H.  “World Views, Social Sciences and the Understanding of Social Realities.” Mimeo. n.d.: 1-4. Print. See also Mack H. Jones “Political Science and the Black Political Experience: Issues in Epistemology and Relevance;” Knowledge, Power, and Black Politics: Collected Essays (Albany, NY; Suny Press, 2014) especially pp. 51-58.