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Du Bois and James at Harvard: The Challenges of Fraternal Pairings and Racial Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2019

Saladin Ambar
Saladin Ambar*
Affiliation:
Rutgers University-New Brunswick
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Saladin Ambar, Department of Political Science, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, New Brunswick, NJ. E-mail: saladin.ambar@eagleton.rutgers.edu
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Abstract

This article seeks to illuminate the relationship between two of the most important figures in American political thought: the pragmatist philosopher William James, and the pioneering civil rights leader and intellectual, W.E.B. Du Bois. As Harvard's first African American PhD, Du Bois was a critical figure in theorizing about race and identity. His innovative take on double consciousness has often been attributed to his contact with James who was one of Du Bois's most critical graduate professors at Harvard. But beyond the view of the two thinkers as intellectual collaborators, is the fraught history of liberal racial fraternal pairing and its role in shaping national identity. This article examines Du Bois and James's relationship in the context of that history, one marked by troubled associations between friendship and race.

Keywords

W.E.B. Du BoisWilliam Jamesracefraternitydouble consciousnesspragmatismAmerican political thoughtHarvard
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , September 2019 , pp. 352 - 377
Copyright
Copyright © The Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2019 

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