The Ralph J. Bunche Award is presented annually by the American Political Science Association (APSA) to honor the best scholarly work in political science that explores the phenomenon of ethnic and cultural pluralism.
Citation from the Award Committee:
In The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought, Rogers offers a nuanced account of what democracy means and what is it’s potential for transformation. Centering the voices of African American thinkers, Rogers’ work provides a view of American democracy and its potential from the perspective of ‘disinherited’ Americans who have seen their life chances rise and fall with the whims of white supremacy. Hope, however, is what these authors see in times of despair and their vision for how to transform American society could not be more important given our contemporary political condition. Rogers’ work shows that African American have been the true believers in America’s possibility to become a more perfect union. These commitments have not only sustained Black people, but also guided America through its most trying periods. This book could not be more important and speaks to the difficulties but also the possibilities of Black life and America’s promise. This book is a vital read, an intellectual triumph, and is one of the best representatives of the tradition of REP scholarship the Ralph J. Bunche Award was created to acknowledge.
Melvin Rogers is the Edna and Richard Salomon Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Associate Director of the Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at Brown University and a faculty affiliate of the Department of Africana Studies at Brown University. There Professor Rogers teaches courses on democratic theory, the history of American and African-American political philosophy, and pragmatism. In his teaching and writing, he pays careful attention to the overlapping themes of character, culture, and politics in nurturing a healthy democratic community. He is one of three co-directors of The Democracy Project at the PPE Center—a Project that promotes the study at Brown of democratic values, norms, cultures, institutions, and practices around the world.
Professor Rogers is the author of The Undiscovered Dewey: Religion, Morality and the Ethos of Democracy and The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought. The Darkened Light of Faith has received the 2024 David Easton Award from the Foundations of Political Theory Organized Section of APSA and the 2023 Best Book Award from the American Political Thought Organized Section of APSA. He is also the editor of John Dewey, The Public and Its Problems, co-editor of African American Political Thought: A Collected History, and co-editor of the Oxford New Histories of Philosophy book series. For his scholarship, he was the recipient of the 2023 James W. C. Pennington Award from Heidelberg University.
APSA thanks the committee members for their service: Dr. Jeremy Ferwerda (Co-Chair) of Dartmouth College, Dr. Niambi M. Carter (Co-Chair) of the University of Maryland, Dr. Lauren D. Davenport of Stanford University, and Dr. Noora Anwar Lori of Boston University.