Learning to Think for Ourselves and the Work of Sociology: Ilaria Pitti in Conversation with Patricia Hill Collins

Ilaria Pitti; Patricia Hill Collins

doi:10.6092/issn.1971-8853/21869

Authors

Ilaria Pitti Department of Sociology and Business Law, University of Bologna https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6270-501X

Ilaria Pitti is Associate Professor of Gender Studies and Youth Studies at the University of Bologna. Her research investigates youth activism, everyday practices of civic participation, and the intersectional inequalities that shape them. She has also examined how women navigate and transform highly masculine arenas such as organized football fandom and male-dominated labour sectors. Her most recent publications include the articles “Young Women’s Informal Leadership: Reflections on Taking Responsibility in Youth Participation” (Young. Nordic Journal of Youth Research, 2024, online first, with. J. Lütgens & A. Walther) and “More than Crumbs: Emotional Entanglements and Situated Ethical Strategies in Qualitative Research” (American Behavioral Scientist, 2024, 68(5), 678–695 [original work published 2022]).
Patricia Hill Collins Department of Sociology, University of Maryland (United States) https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7934-0691

Patricia Hill Collins is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park, and former President of the American Sociological Association. Her groundbreaking work on intersectionality, race, gender, and Black feminist thought has profoundly influenced contemporary social theory. Among her most influential books are Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment (1990, Unwin Hyman) and Intersectionality (2016, Polity Press, co-authored with S. Bilge). She is the recipient of numerous awards for her scholarly contributions and social justice advocacy.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1971-8853/21869

Keywords:

Patricia Hill Collins, Intersectionality, Othermothering, Social justice, Loss and hope

Abstract

In this wide-ranging conversation with Ilaria Pitti, Patricia Hill Collins retraces the interplay between her personal biography and intellectual trajectory. She reflects on the evolution of intersectionality — its promise, risks of depoliticisation, and practical uptakes — while insisting that social-justice ethics remain central. The dialogue also explores “othermothering” as a historically Black, collective-care practice that can inform contemporary struggles in historical times marked by loss and powerlessness. Throughout, Collins positions sociology as a “border discipline” uniquely equipped to analyse structural power, cultivate reflexivity, and foster social change.

References

Collins, P.H. (1990). Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. Boston, MA: Unwin Hyman.

Collins, P.H. (1998). Fighting Words: Black Women and the Search for Justice. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

Collins, P.H. (2000). Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment (2^nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203900055

Collins, P.H. (2019). Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478007098

Collins, P.H. (2022). Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment (30^th-anniversary ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. https://doi.org/doi:10.4324/9781003245650

Collins, P.H. (2024). Lethal Intersections: Race, Gender, and Violence. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

Collins, P.H., & Bilge, S. (2016). Intersectionality. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

Collins, P.H., & Bilge, S. (2020). Intersectionality (2^nd edition). Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

Crenshaw, K.W. (1989). Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989, 1, 139–167. https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf/vol1989/iss1/8/

Learning to Think for Ourselves and the Work of Sociology

Ilaria Pitti in Conversation with Patricia Hill Collins

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