Walking on Two Legs: Black Marxism and the Sociological Canon

Abstract

After years of 'normal science' and rising professionalism, sociology is beginning to twist in its roots. And the tree is shaking. One source of excitement is the long overdue entrance of W.E.B. Du Bois, now at the center of sociological debate. Aldon Morris has become a pivotal figure in promoting Du Bois both in his 2015 book, Scholar Denied and then as President of the American Sociological Association, 2020-2021. But following him are many others, including a new generation of sociologists, engaged in the project of 'decolonizing' sociology. One center of insurgency is Brown University where José Itzigsohn, together with colleagues and students, has been a major catalyst. At the recent Brown symposium he organized, my own foray into the world of Du Bois was greeted with critiques by Jordanna Matlon and Freeden Blume Oeur whose papers appear in this issue of Critical Sociology. 1 This is not the first time sociology has been disrupted by insurgency. During the late 1960s and into the 1970s, the entry of Marxism and feminism brought sociology from crisis to renewal. As was the case with Marxism and feminism, today social movements in pursuit of social justice, but especially racial justice, have produced shock waves across US academia. Just as The Insurgent Sociologist was home to a critical sociology in the 1970s, so now its descendent, Critical Sociology, is home to debates about new directions of sociology, under the enterprising direction of its editor, David Fasenfest.Even though critical race theory found its way into other disciplines, and even though the 1970s saw militant social movements demanding racial justice, whether integrationist or separatist, still the sociology of race -with notable exceptions -did not undergo substantial or lasting radicalization. The likes of Frantz Fanon, C.L.R. James, Walter Rodney, Oliver Cromwell Cox -all with sociological provenance -and above all W.E.B. Du Bois rarely entered foundational courses. This is now changing. The issue is no longer whether to take Du Bois seriously, but how to take him seriously.Indisputably, Du Bois was one of the great public intellectuals of the 20th century -the first African American to receive a PhD at Harvard, doctoral student at the University of Berlin, and twice professor at Atlanta University. He was a poet, novelist, and editor as well as an academic.

From Public Sociology to Sociological Publics: The Importance of Reverse Tutelage to Social Theory

“…Burawoy (2005c) argues that prior to World War I, the divide between professional and public sociology was significantly porous. As highlighted through cases such as W. E. B Du Bois (Burawoy 2005c(Burawoy , 2022a(Burawoy , 2022b, Burawoy points out that U.S. sociology in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries had close relationships with both policy sociology and public sociology: Du Bois's work in policy at the Atlanta School (see also Wright 2002), his involvement with the NAACP, and his editorship at The Crisis were demonstrative of this. For Burawoy (2022a), Du Bois's involvement in professional, critical, public, and policy sociology showed a multifaceted vision of the discipline.…”

“…I first turn to my critique that Burawoy's account of public sociology focuses too much on the actions of professional sociologists. Consider, for instance, Burawoy's discussion of Du Bois in his ASA address (Burawoy 2005b) and in his more recent scholarship (Burawoy 2022b(Burawoy , 2022c. Burawoy (2022c:3) states without hesitation that Du Bois was "the greatest public sociologist to have walked the earth," but his analysis of Du Bois's public sociology centers the individual genius of Du Bois over the dialogical relations he forged (and indeed, the dialogical relations that shaped Du Bois's sociology itself).…”

The limits of imperial incorporation: Alternative sociological frameworks to study Asian American subjects

“…The genius of [Du Bois’s] Black Reconstruction is the bringing together of the national and the global—internal struggles shaped by and simultaneously shaping international capitalism. And yet, when it comes to studying the rest of the world—Africa, Latin America, Middle East, Asia—[Du Bois] is guilty of downplaying internal divisions and giving credibility to the perspectives of the dominant classes (2022, p. 582).…”

Unrealized Integration in Education, Sociology, and Society

“…For instance, some sociologists, perturbed by concepts, notions, and frameworks introduced by their peers, particularly women and individuals from racially minoritized backgrounds, have raised the fundamental query of whether a coherent “core” or conceptual unity still exists within the discipline (House 2019). Others have offered robust responses to this inquiry (Burawoy 2022; Go 2017; Itzigsohn and Brown 2015; Morris 2015). First, it is imperative to acknowledge the overt exclusion of these marginalized groups from the discourse, including the pioneering women sociologists of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries (see Author’s Note), despite their significant contributions to knowledge production (Deegan 2005).…”