Why and How the Sociological Canon Excludes W.E.B. DuBois and the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory

• In Event: 024 - Regular Session. Correcting the History of Sociology: Du Bois, Odum, Parsons, and Merton

Abstract

This paper offers a sociology of knowledge explanation of the cause(s) of the sociological marginalization of the contributions of W. E. B. Du Bois and the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory including institutionalization of the insider researcher, method triangulation, acknowledgement of the limitations of one's research, and completion of the first sociological studies on religion and the church in the US. Explanations for the early exclusion of this school from mainstream sociological consciousness include racism, academic obscurity, alleged ungeneralizable findings, alleged unsophisticated and low quality methods of research, and the alleged omission of theory. Contemporary explanations for the marginalization of this school’s work include the historical under appreciation of survey research, unwelcoming gatekeepers (e.g., elite journal and book publishers) and the lack of recognition of the school by its contemporaries. This paper concludes with an admonition that sociologists uncover, analyze, contextualize and, if deserved, canonize the works of sociologists who have been historically excluded from mainstream recognition because of their race, gender, orientation, religion, etc. Moreover, sociologists are encouraged to thoroughly examine the sociological contributions of early and influential Black sociologists at predominately Black institutions including Fisk University, Howard University and Tuskegee University.

Author

• Earl Wright, University of Cincinnati