Souls of W.E.B. Du Bois

The Souls of W. E. B. Du Bois explores the relationship of W. E. B. Du Bois's seminal book, The Souls of Black Folk , to other works in his scholarly portfolio and to his larger project concerning race, racial identity, and the social objectives of scholarly engagement. The new, original chapters in this book, written by leading Du Bois scholars, offer a critical reading of Souls and its relevance a century later in today's world. The chapters show how Souls extends, refines, or introduces ideas developed in Du Bois's The Philadelphia Negro and Black Reconstruction , and how Souls relates to Du Bois's early considerations of social activism on the behalf of African Americans and to his thinking about the situation of African American women. The book demonstrates how significant Souls is for Du Bois's overarching objectives concerning racial theorizing, the social conditions affecting race, and the possibilities for social justice.

Alford A. Young, Jr. is Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and Associate Professor of Sociology in the Center for Afro-American and African Studies at the University of Michigan. Jerry G. Watts is Professor of English at the Graduate Center of CUNY. Manning Marable is Professor of Public Affairs, History, and African-American Studies and director of the Center for Contemporary Black History at Columbia University. Charles Lemert is Andrus Professor of Sociology at Wesleyan University. Elizabeth Higginbotham is currently Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Delaware.