The Problem of the Future World: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Race Concept at Midcentury

Eric Porter

Published by Duke University Press 2010

The Problem of the Future World

W. E. B. Du Bois and the Race Concept at Midcentury

Eric Porter

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822393191

Overview
Contents

About this book

A significant reassessment of the mid-twentieth-century writings of W. E. B. Du Bois, emphasizing their relevance to contemporary theories of race and racism.

Author / Editor information

Eric Porter is Professor of American Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is the author of What Is This Thing Called Jazz? African American Musicians as Artists, Critics, and Activists.

Reviews

“Covering such issues as WW II, Pan-Africanism, and feminism, Porter is successful in explaining the broad import of Du Bois’s later work. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.” - Y. Kiuchi, Choice

“Eric Porter is highly aware that today the late Du Bois is neither deeply studied nor particularly well regarded. He agrees that the great man’s later work suffered from ‘political dogmatism’ in comparison to his vast earlier contributions (Porter, p. 155). Still, drawing on a wide reading of recent literature on Du Bois as well as on race and racism in the contemporary world, Porter argues that ‘the Doctor’s’ late work nevertheless has something to teach us today.” - Howard Winant, Ethnic and Racial Studies

“DuBois was an international figure, and Porter’s study reminds us of his importance during his lifetime as well as his continued relevance in how we currently view concepts of race, class, and citizenship. For DuBois scholars in particular, ... Porter’s ... intriguing text[ is] recommended.” - Tara T. Green, American Literature

“Porter’s The Problem of the Future World is a timely treatment of the lessons we can learn from Du Bois’s texts on critically gauging the past and present to bring about a democratic present and future. . . . Porter’s book is a must read for scholars and graduate students in the fields of African American studies, Africana studies, and American studies.“ - Shannon King, History: Reviews of New Books

“The Problem of the Future World is in every respect a superior work of scholarship. It is a major contribution to the field of Du Bois studies, where sustained, careful examinations of the theorist’s later writings are especially lacking; to midcentury U.S. intellectual history; and to contemporary theories and criticism of U.S. racial formations.”—Nikhil Pal Singh, author of Black Is a Country: Race and the Unfinished Struggle for Democracy

“As the title of Eric Porter’s excellent intellectual biography warns us, the problem of the future world may have been anticipated by the severe racial and economic judgments of W. E. B. Du Bois, one of the last century’s greatest engaged thinkers.”—David Levering Lewis, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of W. E. B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 1868–1919

“Covering such issues as WW II, Pan-Africanism, and feminism, Porter is successful in explaining the broad import of Du Bois’s later work. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.”

-- Y. Kiuchi Choice

“Eric Porter is highly aware that today the late Du Bois is neither deeply studied nor particularly well regarded. He agrees that the great man’s later work suffered from ‘political dogmatism’ in comparison to his vast earlier contributions (Porter, p. 155). Still, drawing on a wide reading of recent literature on Du Bois as well as on race and racism in the contemporary world, Porter argues that ‘the Doctor’s’ late work nevertheless has something to teach us today.”

-- Howard Winant Ethnic and Racial Studies

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Introduction Rewriting Du Bois’s Future Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1 Race and the Future World Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	21
2 Beyond War and Peace Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	63
3 Imagining Africa, Reimagining the World Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	103
4 Paradoxes of Loyalty Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	217
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227

Language: English
Publisher: Duke University Press
Pages
- Main content: 252

eBook

Published: November 1, 2010
ISBN: 9780822393191