Following on the heels of The Womanist Reader, The Womanist Idea offers a comprehensive, systematic analysis of womanism, including a detailed discussion of the womanist worldview (cosmology, ontology, epistemology, logic, axiology, and methodology) and its implications for activism. From a womanist perspective, social and ecological change is necessarily undergirded by spirituality ¿ as distinct from religion per se ¿ which invokes a metaphysically informed approach to activism.

Part 1: The Metaphysical Architecture of the Womanist Idea 1. Luxocracy: Rule by Light 2. Womanist Origins: Reading Alice Walker, Chikwenye Okonjo Ogunyemi, and Clenora Hudson-Weems 3. Womanist Worldview/Womanism as Spiritual Movement 4. Womanist Methodology: Transforming Consciousness, Changing the World 5. A Spiritual Archaeology of the Womanist Idea 6. Spiritual Activism: A Womanist Approach. Part 2: Womanist Spiritual Activism: 5 Case Studies 7. Transforming War into Peace: Sister Chan Khong and Learning True Love 8. The Alchemy of Forgiveness: Immaculée Ilibagiza and Left to Tell 9. Turning a Prison into an Ashram: Kiran Bedi and It¿s Always Possible 10. Speaking Truth inside Power: Pregs Govender¿s Love and Courage 11. Spiritualized Sustainability: Wangari Maathai, Unbowed, and The Green Belt Movement Part 3: Beyond Womanism 12. Witness to a Testimony: Womanist Reflections on the Life and Loss of a Daughter. Epilogue: Beyond Womanism: The Soul of the Womanist Idea