Political Philosophy of W. E. B. Du Bois

Through close readings of Du Bois's texts, we will explore the relationship between his political philosophy and his conceptualization of race at different stages of his intellectual and activist career as well as his understanding of democratic politics, the place of the black masses therein, and the status of women. We will also pay attention to Du Bois’s retrospective self-criticisms, to his reliance on fictional and other artistic genres of writing to advance philosophical claims. Drawing on reflections by Du Bois and Locke, we will reflect on how to think about art as a site of moral and political transformation in matters of race.