Journal Articles by Freeden Blume Oeur
City & Community , 2024
On the occasion of the book’s quasquicentennial, our special issue brings together four articles ... more On the occasion of the book’s quasquicentennial, our special issue brings together four articles that show the continuing relevance of W. E. B. Du Bois’s The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study (1899). The contributors illustrate how a fresh perspective on the theoretical insights that Du Bois began to develop in The Philadelphia Negro deepen understanding of contemporary topics such as gentrification, policing, residential mobility, and the rhythyms of daily life in Black neighborhoods. Taken together, these articles adopt four tenets of a Du Boisian Sociology that are grounded in the contributions of The Philadelphia Negro: (a) using history to contextualize the contemporary, (b) studying social phenomena through the subaltern perspective, (c) using a “case of” design, and (d) analyzing the structural context that shapes individual outcomes, with attention to people’s agency. As our special issue demonstrates, while already a classic, The Philadelphia Negro deserves an even wider audience for its lessons on what city blocks can tell us about the character of a city: the residents and their institutions that have come and gone, the shape of changing neighborhoods, and what all that could mean for urban change in the future.
American Behavioral Scientist, 2024
Over the past two decades, pressing questions around childhood, age, difference, and power have t... more Over the past two decades, pressing questions around childhood, age, difference, and power have traversed the multidisciplinary study of childhood, and have come to overlap increasingly with writings on colonialism. While children remain relatively under-analyzed across this scholarship, children and notions of childhood are always implicated in colonialism and its vestiges. Moreover, legacies of colonialism shape the images of children who dominate headlines today, from cruel policies which separate migrant children from their families at the United States—Mexico border, to Israel’s continued assault on Gaza and the deliberate targeting of Palestinian children, to young climate activists who have mobilized around the globe. Our special issue explores questions around colonialism and childhood, and specifically their processes of racialization; and argues for a general practice of decolonizing the study of childhood. The authors—representing several disciplines and regions—have contributed essays which cover two broad themes. The first three articles speak to histories of colonialism and their entwinement with childhood, and the challenges actors face in attempting to reckon with those histories. The next three articles take up discussions concerning childhood as a colonialist racialized concept, and pose questions about who is deserving of care and whose care should be recognized as good for children. Our queries recognize the important work already being done by childhood studies scholars, invite newer researchers to the field to consider childist concerns, and welcome all to imagine futures beyond our present crises.
Teaching Sociology, 2024
A silence in the resurgence of scholarship on W. E. B. Du Bois has been his work as an instructor... more A silence in the resurgence of scholarship on W. E. B. Du Bois has been his work as an instructor. This article uses Du Bois's early teaching experiences and reflections on the "ugly" progress of schooling to ask: What should guide the pedagogy of sociology instructors when racial progress is so ugly? I sketch here a pedagogy inspired by Du Bois-who was the teacher denied-which is motivated by a positive notion of propaganda. Du Bois was a radical pedagogue whose mixed-methods instructional agenda informed a critical Black Sociology and bridges recent calls by American Sociological Association leadership for a discipline that is more emancipatory and educative. Embracing the right to propaganda gives pedagogical teeth to honest appraisals on racial progress. Triangulating art, science, and agitation in our pedagogy offers a general compass, and my article concludes with one direction that compass might lead: a classroom assignment where my undergraduate students became "print propagandists."
Contemporary Sociology, 2023
If academic book reviewing is on its last legs, then we might come to value it more if we see how... more If academic book reviewing is on its last legs, then we might come to value it more if we see how reviewing uncovers something fundamental to all intellectual exchanges—and therefore, the work we do as sociologists. And that is listening. While the academy valorizes talking above listening, the practice of hearing another speak is feminist in spirit. Drawing on the author's experience as the book review editor for two journals, this essay reflects on various types of translation at the heart of listening, and urges sociologists everywhere to invest more in feminist book reviewing.
Social Psychology Quarterly, 2023
We raise concerns about Quadlin and Montgomery's Social Psychology Quarterly article, ''When a Na... more We raise concerns about Quadlin and Montgomery's Social Psychology Quarterly article, ''When a Name Gives You Pause,'' a study of whether racialized names affect the time to dog adoption in a county shelter. Our comment is guided by the recent insistence of American Sociological Association leadership for greater critical introspection in sociological research. First, the study is ahistorical by overlooking histories of human-animal relations and naming in the construction of anti-Blackness. Second, the study is acontextual by contorting labor market research and color-blind perspectives in a manner that directs undue attention to the treatment of dogs without specifying the concrete disadvantages for Black people. The study's narrow focus on adopters misrepresents organizational factors within animal shelters. These various oversights invest Quadlin and Montgomery's article in a whitenesscentered sociological tradition. We urge divesting from this tradition and conclude with a call for sociology to be more educative and reflexive.
Sociological Theory, 2023
In 1992, Barbara Laslett and Barrie Thorne organized a symposium in Sociological Theory with the ... more In 1992, Barbara Laslett and Barrie Thorne organized a symposium in Sociological Theory with the aim of tearing down a "wall of silence" between feminist theory and the mainstream of sociological theorizing. For help, the editors turned to the work of Dorothy E. Smith, the renowned theoretician and methodologist. Smith's theorizing today carries even greater appeal, having expanded from a sociology for women to a sociology for people. This wider scope never sacrifices her project's theoretical versatility and nimbleness and disdain for abstraction. In offering a critical tribute to Smith, who passed away in June 2022 at the age of 95, the present symposium invited three scholars -- Paige Sweet, Rebecca Lund, and Marjorie DeVault -- to share new reflections on the legacy of Smith's powerful mode of inquiry.
The Oxford Handbook of W. E. B. Du Bois , 2022
More than just a topic of inquiry for W. E. B. Du Bois, religion provided a language that the sch... more More than just a topic of inquiry for W. E. B. Du Bois, religion provided a language that the scholar used to convey larger truths concerning racial equity and identity, and the possibility for social change. This chapter first describes how Du Bois’s sociology of religion not only was a careful study of the place of religion in society and history but was also grounded in a philosophical commitment to understanding the dynamic relationship between science and religion. It turns next to Du Bois’s writings on the central place of religion in the history of African and African American peoples. The third section is dedicated to Du Bois’s writings on the Black Church. The fourth section discusses Du Bois’s critique of colonialism and white Christianity. The chapter concludes with observations on how Du Bois, an architect of the sociology of religion, continues today to inspire the study of religion and racial politics.
Critical Sociology, 2022
Michael Burawoy's 2021 essay, 'Decolonizing Sociology: The Significance of W.E.B. Du Bois', forge... more Michael Burawoy's 2021 essay, 'Decolonizing Sociology: The Significance of W.E.B. Du Bois', forges dialogues between the scholar denied and established theorists with the aim of reconstructing the sociological canon. My commentary situates the author's essay and his own Du Boisian turn in a long career dedicated to reflexive science and recomposing theory. I reflect on the seemingly innocuous notion of a dialogue itself: its implications for sociological theory and practice, and how it supports decolonial efforts. Thinking with Toni Morrison, Hazel Carby, Lisa Lowe, and others, I offer a sketch of a decolonial methodology-what I call a Du Boisian shadowplay-that brings into view the intimate dimensions of imperialism. Ultimately, such a feminist methodology reconstructs dialogues that reflect on researcher standpoints and nested imperial histories; and in the face of today's social crises, nurtures dialogues that are animated by an ethic of love.
Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, 2021
While originally referring to the use of material objects to convey abstract ideas, "object lesso... more While originally referring to the use of material objects to convey abstract ideas, "object lesson" took on a second meaning at the turn of the twentieth century. This particular connotation—denoting a person and leader as moral exemplar—reveals fault lines between the thinking of W. E. B. Du Bois and G. Stanley Hall on young people. Through his own adoption of the German ideals of sturm und drang and bildungsroman, as well as a process of "aftershadowing"—a recalibration of ideas concerning his own family genealogy, childhood, and intellectual lineages—Du Bois made ideological claims that were a counter-narrative to Hall's recapitulation theory.
Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, 2021
Introduction to a special issue of the Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth.
Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2020
In 1899, diphtheria claimed the life of W. E. B. Du Bois’s son, Burghardt. How can Burghardt’s de... more In 1899, diphtheria claimed the life of W. E. B. Du Bois’s son, Burghardt. How can Burghardt’s death help us to understand the racialized consequences of the present coronavirus pandemic? This article considers what Du Bois described as the “phantasmagoria” that ensnares racial structures. I examine COVID as the latest iteration of a distinctly racialized American trauma narrated in the grammar of Du Bois’s reflections on disease, extrajudicial killings, and kinship. This fever dream of conflagration and asphyxiation has haunted Black lives since slavery. Du Bois gave meaning to this racial spectre in religious terms
as a story of perpetual death but eventual emancipation. By situating Du Bois in relation to the work of Christina Sharpe (2016. In the Wake: On Blackness and Being. Durham, NC: Duke University Press), this essay ruminates on the orthography of slavery’s inheritances with regard to disease and its symbiotic relationship with lynching. I conclude by considering Du Bois’s invocation to darkwater as a demand for Black healing.
Sociological Perspectives, 2017
Neoliberal public school reform has revitalized efforts to open unique all-male schools for black... more Neoliberal public school reform has revitalized efforts to open unique all-male schools for black boys. Existing research stresses how these black male academies nurture resilience but has failed to examine what makes these schools distinctive. Drawing on one year of ethnographic research, this article demonstrates how Northside Academy, an all-male charter high school, built a respectable brotherhood. Modeled after elite all-male institutions, Northside's classics curriculum and professional uniform marked its young men as having disciplined minds and bodies, destined for college and a middle-class future. Yet to maintain legitimacy within a competitive environment, the school community drew moral boundaries between its exceptional young men and those delinquent boys most in crisis. This engaged a respectability politics where upwardly mobile black men reject their more marginalized peers for failing to reform their character. This study's findings extend knowledge of single-sex public schools and of the impact of increased competition under neoliberalism.
Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, 2016
An enduring finding is that marginalized young men of color aggressively seek “respect,” or mascu... more An enduring finding is that marginalized young men of color aggressively seek “respect,” or masculine status. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork at an all-boys public high school, the author found that respect—a desire to “be known”—offers an incomplete explanation for how young black men claim recognition in an era of surveillance. These findings reveal an alternative and more complex portrait of criminalized young black men in search of multiple dignities. With the help of adults, the young men in this study made claims to the right to grow as individuals. They also continued to yearn for a form of respect that rejected a sexually victimized identity, in a manner rarely captured in previous research. Their yearnings also highlight claims to a third form of dignity: to “be unknown,” or the privilege of anonymity.
In light of increased scholarly and public discussion about the proper position of religion in hi... more In light of increased scholarly and public discussion about the proper position of religion in higher education, we take stock of existing social scientific studies to illuminate what we know—and what we don't know—about religion and higher education. We argue that research shows that college students are more religiously engaged than has traditionally been thought, but that this interest appears to be more broad than deep; that the college experience does not lead to apostasy in most students, though its effect on students' religious engagements is still unclear; and that religion has a beneficial effect on some student outcomes, but not on others. We conclude by proposing three new directions for research that offer the potential to expand our understanding of the interaction of religion and higher education.
Books by Freeden Blume Oeur
Gender Replay: On Kids, Schools, and Feminism, 2023
While single-sex public schools face much criticism, many Black communities see in them a great p... more While single-sex public schools face much criticism, many Black communities see in them a great promise: that they can remedy a crisis for their young men. Black Boys Apart reveals triumph, hope, and heartbreak at two all-male schools, a public high school and a charter high school, drawing on Freeden Blume Oeur’s ethnographic work. We meet young men who felt their schools empowered and emasculated them, parents who were frustrated with co-ed schools, teachers who helped pave the road to college, and administrators who saw in Black male academies the advantages of privatizing education.
While the two schools have distinctive histories and ultimately charted different paths, they were both shaped by the convergence of neoliberal ideologies and a politics of Black respectability. As Blume Oeur reveals, all-boys education is less a school reform initiative and instead joins a legacy of efforts to reform Black manhood during periods of stark racial inequality. Black male academies join long-standing attempts to achieve racial uplift in Black communities, but in ways that elevate exceptional young men and aggravate divisions within those communities.
Black Boys Apart shows all-boys schools to be an odd mix of democratic empowerment and market imperatives, racial segregation and intentional sex separation, strict discipline and loving care. Challenging narratives that endorse these schools for nurturing individual resilience in young Black men, this perceptive and penetrating ethnography argues for a holistic approach in which Black communities and their allies promote a collective resilience.
Papers by Freeden Blume Oeur
Getting Real About Inequality: Intersectionality in Real Life, 2022
Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 2023
Conversations is an occasional feature which brings people together to discuss urgent topics for ... more Conversations is an occasional feature which brings people together to discuss urgent topics for the study of race and ethnicity. Freeden Blume Oeur and Mo Torres had a chance to speak with the leading scholars José Itzigsohn and Vilna Bashi on the state of the sociology of race and ethnicity today, and learned more about what they study and how they teach and mentor. Itzigsohn and Bashi reflect on challenging the mainstream of sociology, nurturing decolonial and other critical practices, creating networks of mutual care, reimagining what is possible, and whether sociology is worth saving at all.
Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
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Journal Articles by Freeden Blume Oeur
as a story of perpetual death but eventual emancipation. By situating Du Bois in relation to the work of Christina Sharpe (2016. In the Wake: On Blackness and Being. Durham, NC: Duke University Press), this essay ruminates on the orthography of slavery’s inheritances with regard to disease and its symbiotic relationship with lynching. I conclude by considering Du Bois’s invocation to darkwater as a demand for Black healing.
Books by Freeden Blume Oeur
While the two schools have distinctive histories and ultimately charted different paths, they were both shaped by the convergence of neoliberal ideologies and a politics of Black respectability. As Blume Oeur reveals, all-boys education is less a school reform initiative and instead joins a legacy of efforts to reform Black manhood during periods of stark racial inequality. Black male academies join long-standing attempts to achieve racial uplift in Black communities, but in ways that elevate exceptional young men and aggravate divisions within those communities.
Black Boys Apart shows all-boys schools to be an odd mix of democratic empowerment and market imperatives, racial segregation and intentional sex separation, strict discipline and loving care. Challenging narratives that endorse these schools for nurturing individual resilience in young Black men, this perceptive and penetrating ethnography argues for a holistic approach in which Black communities and their allies promote a collective resilience.
Papers by Freeden Blume Oeur
as a story of perpetual death but eventual emancipation. By situating Du Bois in relation to the work of Christina Sharpe (2016. In the Wake: On Blackness and Being. Durham, NC: Duke University Press), this essay ruminates on the orthography of slavery’s inheritances with regard to disease and its symbiotic relationship with lynching. I conclude by considering Du Bois’s invocation to darkwater as a demand for Black healing.
While the two schools have distinctive histories and ultimately charted different paths, they were both shaped by the convergence of neoliberal ideologies and a politics of Black respectability. As Blume Oeur reveals, all-boys education is less a school reform initiative and instead joins a legacy of efforts to reform Black manhood during periods of stark racial inequality. Black male academies join long-standing attempts to achieve racial uplift in Black communities, but in ways that elevate exceptional young men and aggravate divisions within those communities.
Black Boys Apart shows all-boys schools to be an odd mix of democratic empowerment and market imperatives, racial segregation and intentional sex separation, strict discipline and loving care. Challenging narratives that endorse these schools for nurturing individual resilience in young Black men, this perceptive and penetrating ethnography argues for a holistic approach in which Black communities and their allies promote a collective resilience.