Davidson, “Ugly Progress”
Ugly progress: W. E. B. Du Bois’s sociology of the future (Davidson 2021)
★ ugly progress: a looping conception of time that involves shuffling between the
disappointments of the past and hopes for the future, with each formed in
confrontation with the other.
● Du Bois’ essay 'Of the Meaning of Progress' critiques the prevailing idea of linear
progress + presents the idea of "ugly progress," recognizing past disappointments
while holding hope for a better future.
● it is a concept of progress that involves a dialectic of hope and disappointment,
with past failures shaping desires for a better world.
● 'Ugly progress' draws from the experiences of slavery and racial violence faced
by Black people. → distance from universal notions of historical advance
● Du Bois's perspective challenges the dominant notions of progress in sociology.
● The article highlights how understanding temporalities in Du Bois's work can
offer a new approach to marginalized figures in sociology's history.
Progress and its aftermath
● Foundational social theorists like Comte, Marx, Durkheim, and Weber believed in
progress as the passage of time leading to the achievement of desired values:
universal, necessary, and linear progress with the laws of history being
scientifically predictable. (cannot be stopped beyond the political and one has to
adapt to it)
● this strong notion of progress has been questioned due to historical catastrophes
and its association with colonial domination and global inequality.
Reading the ruins of progress
● Du Bois brings together progress and catastrophe in his work, where hope for
improvement is accompanied by an awareness of potential failure.
● The essay 'Of the Meaning of Progress' in The Souls of Black Folk clarifies Du
Bois's critique of the dominant notion of progress and presents an alternative
understanding of time.
● The essay tells the story of Du Bois's time teaching in a Tennessee village, where
hopefulness turns into disappointment over time.
● The appearance of a new schoolhouse symbolizes progress, but Du Bois sees it as
ugly and negative.
● The narrative form of Du Bois's account of progress is essential to understanding
his theory of social time, and the two aspects should be considered together.
● feeling of disappointment vs. disillusionment:
Ugly progress: W. E. B. Du Bois’s sociology of the future (Davidson 2021)
★ ugly progress: a looping conception of time that involves shuffling between the
disappointments of the past and hopes for the future, with each formed in
confrontation with the other.
● Du Bois’ essay 'Of the Meaning of Progress' critiques the prevailing idea of linear
progress + presents the idea of "ugly progress," recognizing past disappointments
while holding hope for a better future.
● it is a concept of progress that involves a dialectic of hope and disappointment,
with past failures shaping desires for a better world.
● 'Ugly progress' draws from the experiences of slavery and racial violence faced
by Black people. → distance from universal notions of historical advance
● Du Bois's perspective challenges the dominant notions of progress in sociology.
● The article highlights how understanding temporalities in Du Bois's work can
offer a new approach to marginalized figures in sociology's history.
Progress and its aftermath
● Foundational social theorists like Comte, Marx, Durkheim, and Weber believed in
progress as the passage of time leading to the achievement of desired values:
universal, necessary, and linear progress with the laws of history being
scientifically predictable. (cannot be stopped beyond the political and one has to
adapt to it)
● this strong notion of progress has been questioned due to historical catastrophes
and its association with colonial domination and global inequality.
Reading the ruins of progress
● Du Bois brings together progress and catastrophe in his work, where hope for
improvement is accompanied by an awareness of potential failure.
● The essay 'Of the Meaning of Progress' in The Souls of Black Folk clarifies Du
Bois's critique of the dominant notion of progress and presents an alternative
understanding of time.
● The essay tells the story of Du Bois's time teaching in a Tennessee village, where
hopefulness turns into disappointment over time.
● The appearance of a new schoolhouse symbolizes progress, but Du Bois sees it as
ugly and negative.
● The narrative form of Du Bois's account of progress is essential to understanding
his theory of social time, and the two aspects should be considered together.
● feeling of disappointment vs. disillusionment:
