Essay Sample on Capitalism and Race

Introduction

When we draw in W.E.B. Du Bois' initial publications and thought to separate significant bits of knowledge and establish social and scholarly activities dependent on these, we should manage the idea of race and the role he explained in African and mankind's history. The idea of the race and color alludes basically to role played by prejudice in history and community and race. Be that as it may, Du Bois pursued a multidimensional analysis which tries to comprehend and to recognize the crossing point of class and race as two methods of mastery and resistance methods on the universal and national dimension. Du Bois connects with the inquiries of race, racial mastery and racial abuse with the outstanding suggestion that "the issue of the 20th century is the issue of the race and color." (Ellwood,1919; Reed Jr,1997) In spite of the fact that this proposal grabs detectable quality in the reasoning in front of the Souls of Black Folk, Weber had recently exhibited in 1900 titled "The Present Outlook for the Dark Races of Mankind," presented at the American Negro Academy. His inspiration, he states, was to consider "the racism issue not similarly as individual and national request yet rather in its greater world edge in actuality.

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Subsequent to distinguishing and talking about significant issues of the world, W.E.B Du Bois finishes up that his basic review of these issues "affirms the suggestion with which I began the world issue of the 20th century is the issue of the racism; the topic of the connection of the propelled races of men who were white to the incredible larger part of the undeveloped countries of humankind who happen to be dark colored or dark... "Weber contended that the relation is basically one of control, abuse and "thin chance" for advancement for the non-white individuals. In his "Deliver to the Nations of the World" in the interest of the main Pan-African Congress, Du Bois rehashes his recommendation and further characterizes the idea of the issue.

Both Karl Marx and Weber in their theories pursue diachronic analyses where they both attempt to explain the relation between the specific historical occurrences and the modern capitalism. According to W.E DuBois, an historical sociologist, he theorizes that the cultural values which are embodied in the American Protestant ethic and as embroiled in the seventh-century Puritans, accelerated the coming of age of the modern capitalism. Weber traces the American Protestant ethic into the eighteenth century, where he states that the ethic's connection to salvation was stripped and striving for money was considered an end to itself. Weber states that in that time, capitalism, which was linked to protestant values, had manifested itself in a compulsory manner. Capitalism was socially rooted such that almost everyone experienced it.

Karl Marx's theory is similar to that of W.E.B DuBois in that, while Marx does not deviate into the historical occurrences that led to capitalism, he attempts to understand and explain how modern capitalism has developed from the initial capitalism that preceded it, just as DuBois attempted to investigate. Karl Marx discusses the state of the alienated modern man through an historical contextual analysis which theorizes that over the history, the material production mode of life conditions the political, intellectual process and social in general. According to Marx's theory, the issue of class struggle come into play. For instance, Marx describes the proletariat polarization, and bourgeoisie into 2 different groupings of capitalists and workers. In the capitalist group, the distinctive trait between the capitalists and the workers similar to the distinction between the factory worker and the soil tiller disappears and the society falls into two categories; the property less workers and the property owners (Broderick,1961). Therefore, Karl Marx, just as DuBois, contextualizes the origin of modern capitalism through delineation of the historical circumstances in which capitalism has manifested.

The basic refinement between Karl Marx and W.E.B Du Bois, in relation to their historical contextual analysis is that Marx composes that economic conditions show themselves in the public arena and culture while DuBois states that culture catalyzes economic conditions (Zuckerman, 2004). Be that as it may, to categorize the two pioneer theorists just as espousers of culturally and economically determined historical change, individually, is to muddle the subtleties inside the two theoretical systems which render them comparative. While it is enticing, for example, to state that, to these theorists, we are all simply the aftereffect of social as well as economic procedures from which we cannot get away, it is imperative to take note of that the two journalists infuse contemplations of the qualities and feelings of individual people into their examinations. Weber, for example, portrays the "incredible inward dejection of the single individual" stated in the Calvinist doctrine of destiny, which at last prompted the Protestant hard working attitude as a crystallization of the individual want to be spared. Marx, also, portrays the psychological elements of human experience which have catalyzed capitalism.

In entirety, while both Marx and Weber utilized a historical logical analysis to land at their speculations, Weber's hypotheses were more graphic and descriptive while Marx's hypotheses were more deterministic.

The legacy of Du Bois

Du Bois long acknowledged for his scholarship and activism in the areas of social and racial justice, which has increasingly attracted the interest of social scientists, he thought that they should be activists regarding the social issues they study. Du Bois analysed his research using a combination of methods, which helped illustrate the realities of racism and the manner in which it impacted the livelihood and opportunities of the community and society, thus by doing so he provided the much needed evidence to disapprove the intellectual inferiority and cultural inferiority supposed of blacks and other races other than whites. By use of critical tools of social science, Du Bois brought up a challenge to the white supremacy during his era. Throughout the works of W.E.B DuBois, he illustrated the limitations of social research as it pertains to further advancement of social activism. In his presentation "The Individual and Social Conference", and his other publications texts, the initial dimensions can be fully reconstructed of his critique about social research over the time he conducted the large scale studies. Activist studies and research are aimed to impact on process of change-making through utilization of methods that implement justice-oriented social changes. Therefore, W.E.B DuBois believed that social scientists should be social activists in their fields of study so as they learn more effectively and later empower learning, and mentor others as sociology education according to Du Bois provides a set of skills that have very wide applications in different fields. The social scientists should undertake and practice social activism in the field of study in order to effectively fit the different pieces of the society together.

References

Broderick, F. L. (1961). WEB Du Bois: Negro leader in a time of crisis.

Du Bois, W. E. B. (1903b). The Souls of Black Folk. Chicago, IL: A. C. McClurg and Company. http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/duboissouls/menu.html (accessed December 07, 2018).

Du Bois, W. E. B. (2000). Sociology hesitant. boundary 2, 27(3), 37-44.

Du Bois, W. E. B. (Ed.). (1904). Some Notes on Negro Crime, Particularly in Georgia: Report of a Social Study Made Under the Direction of Atlanta University; Together with the Proceedings of the Ninth Conference for the Study of the Negro Problems, Held at Atlanta University, May 24, 1904 (No. 7-10). Atlanta University Press.

Ellwood, C. A. (1919). Sociology and modern social problems. American Book Company.

Rabaka, R. (2007). The souls of white folk: WEB Du Bois's critique of white supremacy and contributions to critical white studies. Journal of African American Studies, 11(1), 1-15.

Reed Jr, A. L. (1997). WEB Du Bois and American political thought: Fabianism and the color line. Oxford University Press.

Zuckerman, P. (2004). The social theory of WEB Du Bois. SAGE Publications.