The Sociology of W. E. B. Du Bois: Racialized Modernity and the Global Color Line

Du Bois is now recognized as a pioneer of American scientific sociology and as someone who made foundational contributions to the sociology of race and to urban and community sociology. However, this book provides a groundbreaking account of Du Bois’s theoretical contribution to sociology and examines the implications of developing a Du Boisian sociology for the practice of the discipline today. The full corpus of Du Bois’s sociological works spans a lifetime of over ninety years. His ideas evolved over much of the twentieth century. This broad and systematic account of Du Bois’s contribution to sociology explores how his theories changed, evolved, and even developed to contradict earlier ideas. Through a careful reading  of seminal works the book provides a thorough overview of Du Bois ideas, in particular his understanding of the color line, racialized subjectivity, racial and colonial capitalism, and his urban and community sociology. Further, the book shows that a Du Boisian sociology provides a robust analytical framework for the understanding of our times.