Erasure and Triumph of a Renowned Scholar Activist

This lecture addresses the profound importance of the scholarship and activism of W. E. B. Du Bois. Du Bois was a pivotal scholar of modernity who analyzed the role white supremacy played in shaping the modern world. Slavery and colonialism were key tools western Europe employed in the domination of people of color across the world during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Du Bois revealed how these forms of domination generated modern capitalism and the formation of vast empires in western Europe and the United States. This domination relied on brutal violence and hyper exploitation in conquering darker people of the world. Yet these dominated populations possessed agency which they utilized to liberate themselves. Because of racism, his radical ideas, and his prodigious activism, Du Bois’s scholarship was largely erased from sociology and the social sciences. We are witnessing a resurrection of Du Bois’s scholarship needed to illuminate the modern world. In this moment, a Du Boisian sociology is rapidly evolving and thriving. In this sense, Du Bois's contributions are triumphing because his truths crushed to earth are rising again.

Aldon Morris l Ciampi Visiting Scholar Northwestern University

The videorecording of the event will be available on the SNS YouTube channel. Entrance will be allowed up to the maximum capacity of the room

IMG Credit: Library of Congress | Unsplash