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Leaders Fit for the Masses

W. E. B. Du Bois and Japan’s Transnational Democratic Leadership

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 October 2023

Alex Haskins
Alex Haskins*
Affiliation:
Department of Politics and International Relations, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL, USA
*
Email: alex.haskins@wheaton.edu
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Abstract

In this article, I argue that Du Bois’s Japan—despite displaying his myopic failure to critique non-Western imperialism—served as a potential model for his reimagining transnational democratic leadership beyond Western-centric models and their legacies of White supremacy and democratic despotism. Du Bois’s reflections from the 1890s to the 1960s generally demonstrate a sustained, seven decade-long fluid commitment to realizing a vision of transnational leadership that was accountable to the democratic masses, whether in Asia, Africa, the United States, or elsewhere. Such reflections hold importance now (even as they did in Du Bois’s time) as we continue to grapple with the legacies of Western “democratic” dominance, especially in international institutions designed to facilitate global governance.

Keywords

Du BoisJapanDemocratic DespotismRight to FailLeadershipMasses
Type
Article
Information
Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race , First View , pp. 1 - 19
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Hutchins Center for African and African American Research

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