W.E.B. Du Bois

Housed in one handy volume for the first time are several of the seminal essays on W.E.B. Du Bois's contributions to sociology and critical social theory: from Du Bois as inventor of sociology of race, to Du Bois as the first sociologist of American religion; from Du Bois as a pioneer of urban and rural sociology, to Du Bois as innovator of sociology of gender and culture; and, finally, from Du Bois as groundbreaking sociologist of education and critical criminologist, to Du Bois as dialectical critic of the disciplinary decadence of sociology and the American academy. What this volume offers that is wholly innovative and distinctive is that it brings together the watershed work of classical and contemporary, male and female, black and white, national and international sociologists and social theorists with the express intent of creating critical inventories and thoroughly interrogating what has been included, and what has been excluded, when we come to W.E.B. Du Bois's contributions to the discipline of sociology. Unlike any other anthologies on Du Bois, this volume offers an excellent overview of the critical commentary on arguably one of the most imaginative and innovative, perceptive and prolific founders of the discipline of sociology. It will therefore be of interest to scholars and students not just in sociology, but also Africana studies, American studies, cultural studies, ethnic studies, gender studies and postcolonial studies, as well as "traditional" disciplines, such as, history, philosophy, political science, economics, education, and religion.