The 18-19 Philosophy Colloquium Series continues with Professor Basevich’s talk titled, “Du Bois’s Theory of Economic Justice: On the Democratic Legitimation of Public Goods.”
About the speaker:
Elvira Basevich is an Assistant Professor in Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. She received her Ph.D., from The Graduate Center, CUNY. She specializes in social and political philosophy, Africana philosophy, and modern European philosophy (esp. Kant, Hegel, and Marx).
Abstract:
In this talk, I argue that Du Bois’s critique of Reconstruction and Jim Crow presupposes an idealist theory of the modern American state and that his original philosophy of the state has significant implications for theorizing economic justice. Namely, I argue that, for Du Bois, the democratic process of redefining and distributing public goods through grassroots social movements provides a concrete illustration of the value of civic equality by expanding what constitutes, and who has access to, social goods at public expense. Through the struggle for inclusion led by vulnerable social groups claims for public goods emerge as legitimate moral entitlements of U.S. citizenship.