Du Bois and M. N. Roy: A Comparative Study of Engagements with Marxism and Anti-Colonial Internationalism

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Abstract

There is some recognition in various intellectual and activist circles of the domestic and global salience of the extraordinary scholarly work and the supremely adventurous political lives of two of the most remarkable polymaths that the modern world has ever seen—the pioneering African-American sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) and the Bengali-Indian scholar-activist M. N. Roy (ca. 1887-1954). In this exploratory paper, I attempt to compare and contrast the insights offered by these two militant Southern scholar-activists—especially in their engagements with Marxism and anti-colonial internationalisms.
Though their lives overlapped, Du Bois and Roy never personally met or even corresponded with each other. Even though Roy spent some time in Du Bois’s country of birth, the United States, their paths did not cross. I believe the work and lives of Du Bois and Roy are of critical importance to contemporary sociology and other social sciences. I believe that the work of Du Bois and Roy, taken separately and together, are deeply relevant to these times where imperialisms and xenophobic nationalisms are making a resounding comeback.
An extensive literature search has revealed no attempts to bring the lives and works of these two leading scholar-activists into conversation with each other. This paper is an attempt to rectify that situation. In addition to exploring their innovations to Marxism and anti-colonial internationalism, I will inquire about the way these two pioneers traversed through various intellectual phases in their lives. In the process of investigating the lives and works of these two scholars, I will bring the past, present, and future of the continent of Africa and the sub-continent of India into conversation.
This extended abstract is organized into four sections: the introduction, a section on the similarities between Du Bois and Roy, a section on their differences, and a conclusion.

Author

• Devparna Roy, Nazareth University