WILSON
We’ll put William Julius Wilson (Professor of Sociology, Emeritus at Harvard University) in conversation with Du Bois. Please start by reading a short encyclopedia entry on Wilson.
MORE THAN JUST RACE
Wilson. 1978. “The Declining Significance of Race”
Wilson. 2009. More Than Just Race. (pp. 1-24, 57-61, 70-94, 105-32, 152-4)[1]
In an essay summarizing his “declining significance of race” thesis, Wilson details three stages of American race relations: the preindustrial stage (from antebellum slavery through the early postbellum era), the industrial stage (from the late nineteenth century through the New Deal), and the modern industrial age (mostly captured by the post-World War II economic boom). Wilson argues that different arrangements of production and polity explain variations in racial inequality across these periods. In contrast to the first two stages, and as a result of both economic growth and the interventions of a more autonomous state, the modern industrial stage increased the significance of class as a determinant of life chances. As such, many formally educated Black people experienced upward occupational mobility. However, this stage also solidified an “underclass” that was disproportionately Black due to historical inequalities in education and employment. Racial conflict was not insignificant during this time, but Wilson argues that more recent economic forces better explained Black suffering in the urban core. Fast forward three decades to More than Just Race and we find Wilson wrestling with what seems to be a fourth stage: the new global economy. He considers how technological changes in work, the internationalization of economic activity, and more influence contemporary racial inequality. Wilson also makes room for culture in his updated analysis, but he ultimately argues that structure matters most.
WILSON AND DU BOIS
Read the "Du Bois Excerpts for Wilson" in the Excerpt Packet.
We can put Wilson in conversation with Bourdieu (on disposition), Gramsci (on civil society), Bauman (on liquid modernity), Swidler (on cultural tool kits), and others. However, we’ll spend most of our time putting him in conversation with Du Bois. In addition to writing, at least briefly, about slavery and Jim Crow, Wilson examines race and so-called free labor. He also writes about national culture, interpersonal discrimination, neighborhood segregation, and other topics covered by Du Bois. There are, nevertheless, some important differences between their analyses, many of which cannot simply be explained by the fact that these theorists often examine different periods. For example, we should contrast Wilson’s writings on the global economy with Du Bois’s writings on “White Imperial Industry.” Finally, we should evaluate Wilson’s declining significance of race thesis in light of Du Bois’s claim that the color line may “bend and loosen” in the future.
[1] Chapter 1, “Structure versus Culture” (Chapter 2), “Conclusion” (Chapter 2), “The Role of Structural Factors” (Chapter 3), “The Role of Cultural Factors” (Chapter 3), “Conclusion” (Chapter 3), “The Role of Structural Factors” (Chapter 4), “The Role of Cultural Factors” (Chapter 4), “The Interaction of Culture and Social Structure” (Chapter 4), “Conclusion” (Chapter 4), and “Structure and Culture Entwined” (Chapter 5).