W.E.B. Du Bois

Abstract

Over the past several decades, numerous scholars have shown the relevance of the work of W.E.B. Du Bois to several academic disciplines including sociology (Rudwick, 1974), philosophy (Holmes, 1970), anthropology (Harrison, 1992), economics (Boston, 1991), and others. One discipline, however, that has only recently begun to take notice of Du Bois's scholarship is that of American criminology. Over the past several years, African American criminologists have placed Du Bois's works among the classics of American criminology (see Gabbidon, 1996, 1998, 1999a, 1999b; Hawkins, 1995; Taylor Greene & Gabbidon, 2000; Young & Taylor Greene, 1995). This article aims to build on the previous literature in three ways. First, we examine what may have spurred Du Bois's interest in crime and caused him to repeatedly return to the subject throughout his career. Second, we review some of his early crime-related works and then place them in the context of other American criminologists writing during his era. And finally, we consider whether Du Bois's writings speak to the problem of African American criminality here at the beginning of the 21st century.