Power and Freedom in Jane Austen’s Novels

Cornel West
Cornel West

Dr. Cornel West was one of the plenary speakers at the JASNA 2012 Annual General Meeting in Brooklyn, which focused on the theme “Sex, Money and Power in Jane Austen’s Fiction.”  Dr. West, who retired as Class of 1943 Professor of Philosophy from Princeton University, is now Professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice at Union Theological Seminar in Manhattan and the author of many books, including Race Matters and Democracy Matters.

An edited transcript of Dr. West’s talk, “Power and Freedom in Jane Austen’s Novels,” can be read in the 2012 issue of JASNA’s journal, Persuasions No. 34.  JASNA is pleased to offer here an audio file of his talk and of the Question and Answer session that followed.

Press the "play" control on the console below to start the talk or the Q & A.  (Note: it will begin playing in a few seconds.)

Listen to Dr. West’s talk:

<bgsound src="west-talk.mp3">

Listen to the Q & A session:

<bgsound src="west-q-a.mp3">