W.E.B. Du Bois’s In Battle for Peace: Historical and Political Perspectives

Abstract

In August 1952 W.E.B. Du Bois published In Battle for Peace. Part memoir and part polemic, the book is a testament to Du Bois's later, and arguably most radical years in the Black Freedom Struggle. He wrote about being caught up in the anticommunist hysteria of the mid-20th century because of his growing devotion to the peace movement. But it is also an anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist text that links war to capitalism and imperialism and argues that American policy was an extension of corporate greed. While In Battle for Peace is an account of Du Bois's 1951 arrest for his involvement in the Peace Information Center, trial, and eventual exoneration, it reveals the increased radicalization of a man that would eventually join the Communist Party out of protest to the growing militarization of the United States. It is a Cold War narrative that humanizes the McCarthy era witch hunts through the eyes of a loved and admired historical figure. It is a chapter of Du Bois's life too few know and still too few care to know. This special issue of American Communist History brings together scholars of peace, anti-communism, the Communist Party, gender, and Africana Studies to explore the legacy of Du Bois's book and his devotion to the peace movement. Together these authors offer insight into Du Bois's late in life radicalism and commitment to global liberation; they conclude that this book is an important part of the Du Bois canon that deserves greater attention and study.