Abstract
This chapter explores the issue of social justice in psychobiography from multiple perspectives. Section 1 discusses tools for socio-cultural analysis—intersectionality, the ADDRESSING model, cultural humility, and anti-oppressive practice—and applies them to an analysis of William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868–1963). Du Bois made meaning out of the catastrophe of racism by becoming a scholar-activist. Following his example, psychobiographers may adopt an explicit stance against oppression. Section 2 interprets Du Bois through the lens of Adlerian psychology, and reviews a key method of Adlerian analysis, the interpretation of a subject’s Early Recollections (ERs). The chapter provides a close reading of five of Du Bois’ ERs. Remarkably, he appears to have traced his inspiration for the notions of “double consciousness” and the “the veil,” ideas that went on to influence how many others conceptualized their sociocultural identity, to an adverse childhood experience of racial discrimination (Du Bois, Strivings of the negro people. The Atlantic, 1897). By incorporating social justice into psychobiographical inquiry, we respond to Du Bois’ call for the social sciences to pursue truth and justice. The meaning-making tools at our disposal, including an intersectional lens and anti-oppressive practice, are both objectively sound and rooted in the subjective experience of an extraordinary individual.
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Notes
- 1.
Du Bois spent the early part of his career debunking scientific racism through methodologically rigorous studies such as the ‘The Philadelphia Negro’ (Du Bois & Eaton, 1899), and by founding the Atlanta School of Sociology.
- 2.
I’ve decided to capitalize the first letter of any race that’s mentioned in this essay, except for in the phrase “white supremacy.”
- 3.
“Cisgender” connotes someone whose gender identity is congruent with their sex assigned at birth. I use “cis male” instead of “cisgender male” both for brevity and to reflect common usage, at least in the U.S.
- 4.
For each dimension, the relationship between psychobiographer and subject may be termed positive (aligned), negative (different), or neutral. Positive or shared identities implies that the psychobiographer has emic insight into the subject’s lived experience; negative means the psychobiographer has an etic or cross-cultural gap to navigate.
- 5.
It would be inaccurate to describe Du Bois as a saint in his relationship to women, but he was arguably a feminist (Lewis, 2009).
- 6.
There are really several reasons Du Bois obtained the best of all possible educations. One is his “drum major instinct,” to use Dr. King’s phrase. He also was motivated on some level to make the best of the sacrifices made by his deceased mother (Lewis, 2009).
- 7.
For about a century, the “hegemonic narrative” (Morris, 2015) was that U.S. sociology originated with the Chicago School of Robert Ezra Park. Incidentally, the field of sociology as epitomized by the Chicago School supported eugenics until it fell out of fashion in the 1940s.
- 8.
Propaganda, at this time, did not mean falsehood so much as a message with a practical purpose of moving people and attitudes.
- 9.
Nietzsche died in 1900 and lost his mind to syphilis/mania in 1889. A demonstrable racist (Preston, 1997), one wonders if Nietzsche would have revised his attitude had he personally met Du Bois who was not only fluent in German but a fan of Richard Wagner’s music.
- 10.
If one is not neurotic ( Adler, 1935).
- 11.
Du Bois is contrasting his paternal grandfather (whose family had lighter complexion and indeterminate aristocratic origins) to his maternal side, the Burghardts, who were manual laborers and more provincial.
- 12.
When Du Bois was in Europe he was temporarily freed from America’s racism, an experience shared by others including James Baldwin in France (Krell, 2000).
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Acknowledgment
I wish to thank Dr. Les White for his impressions of the Early Recollections of W.E.B. Du Bois, Blaken Wamsley, LMFT, and Kathryn Wegner for editing early drafts, Jenna Bumgardner for countless discussions about this project, and the anonymous reviewers whose careful feedback helped considerably.
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Wegner, B.R. (2021). Social Justice in Psychobiography: When That Sky Was Bluest for W.E.B. Du Bois. In: Mayer, CH., Fouché, P.J., Van Niekerk, R. (eds) Psychobiographical Illustrations on Meaning and Identity in Sociocultural Contexts . Sociocultural Psychology of the Lifecourse . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81238-6_14
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