Democracy Without Limits: Du Bois’s Conception of Democracy as a Reservoir of Complaints and Ability

This article presents Du Bois’s conception of democracy as a reservoir of complaints and of ability. Du Bois argues that democracy requires the voices of all to be heard because everyone has privileged knowledge not only about their interests but also about their ability to transform the world. Democracy allows us to harness humanity’s unlimited potential and accomplish anything. But to do so, it must include the global realm of production and abolish the capitalist logic of accumulation, which has, according to Du Bois, an inherent tendency to foster racialized forms of exploitation and expropriation. However, racism and capitalism are not the only hindrances to achieving democracy; instead, many fall prey to what Du Bois calls the fascism of despair. This despair entails disbelief in humanity and leads even genuine advocates of democracy to endorse tyrannical stopgap out of fear that humanity is not ready for self-rule. The fascism of despair can, according to Du Bois, only be overcome by faith, a faith in humanity that allows our world to leap into democracy. However, Du Bois ultimately wavered, switching consistently between faith and despair in a way that has fueled debates on whether his commitment was ultimately toward democracy or epistocracy.