BETWEEN CANON CRITIQUE AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF NEW CLASSICS: THE CONTEMPORARY CANONIZATION OF W.E.B. DU BOIS IN SOCIAL THEORY

Abstract

The canon of social theory has been increasingly problematized regarding the criteria that consecrated certain authors as classics while silencing others, in processes crosscut by hierarchies of knowledge production. This article aims to analyze the contemporary process of canonization of W.E.B. Du Bois within social theory, situating it within the tension between the critique of the established canon and the construction of new classics, in dialogue with Brazilian reception. Methodologically, the study is based on a bibliographic review and a theoretical conceptual analysis of recent sociological and historiographical literature on canon formation and on the rediscovery of Du Bois, articulating international and national debates. The results indicate that Du Bois’s canonization results from a movement that is simultaneously intellectual and institutional, marked by interpretive disputes and processes of academic legitimation. It is concluded that incorporating Du Bois into the canon requires new reformulations and dialogues with the classics that structure social theory.