Du Bois's Decolonial Pragmatism: Teaching Community Psychology Toward Epistemological Liberation

In this essay, I query the exclusion of scholars of color such as W. E. B. Du Bois's from the intellectual history of Community Psychology in America and propose integrating their work in formal curricula as an act of epistemological liberation. First, I compare Community Psychology's reliance on the pragmatism of William James and John Dewey to the lingering unfamiliarity with the decolonial pragmatism of Du Bois. I then engage Du Bois's methodological treatise "The Study of Negro Problems" as an example of epistemic disobedience and first wave decolonial thought in the social sciences. I further suggest his work serves as viable pedagogical tool to investigate bias in knowledge production, the importance of investigating subjugated knowledges, and early approaches to decolonial scholarship in the United States.