Forging Freedom in W. E. B. Du Bois's Twilight Years: No Deed but Memory

Scholars have overlooked W. E. B. Du Bois' closing three decades of his career, which were a productive period of teaching, travel, activism, and publications. This book explores the political, social, and cultural significance of Du Bois' career during this period, highlighting his commitment to freedom and the Black freedom struggles. It demonstrates that Du Bois' intellectual achievements remain relevant to the twenty-first century.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 277 pages
Publication date: 31 July 2023
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi

Although the career of W. E. B. Du Bois was remarkable in its entirety, a large majority of scholarship focuses on the first five or six decades. Overlooked and understudied, the closing three decades of Du Boiss career reflect a generative period of his life in terms of teaching, travel, activism, and publications. Forging Freedom in W. E. B. Du Bois s Twilight Years: No Deed but Memory proposes to narrate the political, social, and cultural significance of Du Boiss career during the controversial closing three decades of his life. Du Boiss twilight years were tremendously controversial: his persistent criticism of the collusion between capitalism and racism and his choice to join the Communist Party in late 1961 raised the ire of many. At the time, Du Boiss strident advocacy of socialism and turn to communism during the Cold War oriented most scholars away from delving into his late career. While only a few scholars have engaged the productivity of Du Boiss later years, the fact is that an anticommunist, antiradical animus has followed Du Bois in the half century since his death. As a result, Du Bois scholarship remains impoverished to the extent that academics neglect his later years. The essays in Forging Freedom in W. E. B. Du Bois s Twilight Years detail selected aspects of Du Boiss later decades and their particular connection to American social, political, and cultural history between the 1930s and the 1960s. While international concerns and a global perspective also fundamentally shape Du Boiss later work, the essays in this collection focus primarily on his life and career in the United States. The essays in this collection explore a range of topics, including Du Boiss involvement in the civil rights
rights movement, his teaching at Harvard University, his travels to Africa and Asia, his activism in the international communist movement, and his publications, including his seminal 1967 collection of essays, The Souls of Black Folk. The essays in this collection also address the impact of Du Boiss later years on the field of African American studies, particularly his influence on the development of black cultural studies and his contributions to the study of race and racism. The essays in this collection demonstrate that Du Boiss later years were a period of tremendous productivity and creativity, in which he continued to challenge the dominant narratives of American history and culture. Despite the controversy surrounding his political beliefs and his turn to communism, Du Bois remained a committed scholar and activist who worked tirelessly to promote social justice and equality for all people. In conclusion, Forging Freedom in W. E. B. Du Bois s Twilight Years: No Deed but Memory offers a valuable contribution to the field of Du Bois studies by exploring the political, social, and cultural significance of his career during the controversial closing three decades of his life. By highlighting the overlooked and understudied aspects of Du Boiss later years, this collection provides a fresh perspective on a period of his life that has been largely ignored by scholars.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781496846174