SCA-UA 157 Hip Hop & Politics

In places ranging from the political theory of Adolph Reed to the comedy of Bill Cosby we find a critique of the “hip hop generation” so dismissive it might be a useful point of departure for further historical and theoretical inquiry. Besides realizing the worst fears of a previous generation who placed its hopes in the aspirations of 60s-era social movements, this new generation’s fashion sensibilities, technological savvy, and strategies for commodifying blackness suggest a demographic now more concerned with the economics of globalization than the political economy of race. This course mixes a diverse set of readings with music and film to interrogate the specific generational tensions that structure popular and intellectual discourses concerning the “hip-hop generation” and the perceived demise of contemporary black politics

College of Arts and Sciences, Social & Cultural Analysis
SCA-UA 157 | 4 units | Class#: 19611