LAUSR

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.