ABSTRACT
Social justice projects need a common, functional vocabulary that furthers their understanding of the politics of empowerment. Rethinking Black feminism as a social justice project involves developing a complex notion of empowerment. The structural domain of power encompasses how social institutions are organized to reproduce Black women’s subordination over time. The structural domain organizes oppression, whereas the disciplinary domain manages it. The hegemonic domain justifies oppression, and the interpersonal domain influences everyday lived experience and the individual consciousness that ensues. The disciplinary domain of power has increased in importance with the growing significance of bureaucracy as a mode of modern social organization. By manipulating ideology and culture, the hegemonic domain acts as a link between social institutions, their organizational practices, and the level of everyday social interaction. The significance of the hegemonic domain of power lies in its ability to shape consciousness via the manipulation of ideas, images, symbols, and ideologies.
