The World and Africa: An Inquiry into the Part Which Africa Has Played in World History

Overview

W. E. B. Du Bois offers a sweeping reexamination of Africa's role in global history, tracing civilizations, exchanges, and disruptions from antiquity through the twentieth century. The narrative rejects Eurocentric marginalization by situating African societies as active shapers of world culture, commerce, and politics. Du Bois combines historical description, sociological insight, and moral urgency to remake commonly held views about the continent's past and present.

Central Argument

Du Bois contends that Africa has been integral to world development and that recognition of this fact is necessary for a just international order. He links Africa's contributions, technological, intellectual, agricultural, and cultural, to wider global transformations and insists that the ravages of the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism have not only harmed Africa but have also distorted world history. The remedy he proposes is not nostalgia but a political and moral demand for African self-determination and equitable relations among nations.

Historical Survey

The narrative surveys a broad chronology, from ancient kingdoms and empires to the medieval period, the rise of Islam in Africa, and the flourishing of trade routes across the Sahara and the Indian Ocean. Du Bois highlights centers of learning and statecraft, such as Timbuktu and other West African polities, and underscores agricultural and technological achievements often omitted in standard Western histories. He stresses the multiplicity and diversity of African societies, challenging monolithic depictions and emphasizing internal complexity and creativity.

Critique of Slavery and Colonialism

A core section examines the transatlantic slave trade and European colonialism as catastrophic interruptions in African development. Du Bois documents economic plunder, demographic loss, and cultural destruction while also showing how enslaved Africans and their descendants reshaped the Americas and Europe. He analyzes colonial rule's economic motives and racial ideologies, arguing that empire was driven by capitalist exploitation and justified by a racist denial of African humanity and achievements. The analysis connects these historical processes to contemporary inequalities and global power imbalances.

Call for Self-Determination

Du Bois advances a clear political thesis: Africa's recovery requires political independence, economic reconstruction, and cultural renewal. He urges support for African leadership, education that respects indigenous knowledge, and international solidarity against imperial domination. Pan-Africanism and the rights of colonial peoples feature as indispensable components of a just postwar order, with Du Bois insisting that Africa must be free to shape its destiny without paternalistic intervention.

Style and Method

The prose blends scholarly citation with rhetorical force and personal conviction. Du Bois moves between narrative history, statistical evidence, and trenchant commentary, employing both empirical data and moral appeal to persuade. He writes as a public intellectual addressing both scholars and general readers, aiming to transform opinion as much as to document facts.

Legacy and Influence

The work helped shift debates about race, empire, and history in the mid-twentieth century, fueling anti-colonial movements and reshaping scholarly attention to Africa's global significance. It remains influential as a corrective to Eurocentric historiography and as a manifesto for racial justice and international reform. The call for recognition of Africa's centrality and the insistence on self-determination continue to resonate in contemporary discussions about decolonization and global equity.