Marxism and Race

Historical Materialism

Race and ReificationThis paper uses Marx’s idea of commodity fetishism and subsequent theories of reification to understand the social-construction of race and the nature of racial domination. Race is typically defined as a socially-constituted category that is misattributed as a natural one. The goal of this paper, in contrast, is to explain how this misattribution arises. The paper also explores the relationship between reification and domination and what makes racial domination count as such. It contests recent attempts to find the “persistent entanglement” of race and capital in any functional relationship between racial domination and capital accumulation, and contends that this imbrication must be sought at a critical ontological and epistemological level. Finally, the paper engages with related, commodity-based theories of race and racism and concludes with thoughts on what the socially-constructed category of race can teach us about the nature of value and capitalism.Matthew Dimick, (University at Buffalo, Canada)Race and the Concept of CapitalThere are critics of Marx who argue that his analysis of capital leaves little room for understanding the centrality of racial oppression or the strength of racial prejudice in modern capitalist society, that Marxists are guilty of “class reductionism” among other sins in their analysis of race. While there is certainly such a strain historically within the socialist and Marxist tradition, to which such criticisms might well apply, I beg to differ.First, this paper will trace Marx’s evolving views on race, national oppression, and related questions, suggesting that his later views were the deepest and most coherent. Second, it will situate these views within Marx’s evolving analysis of the concept of capital, as well as within his understanding of the evolving world-wide character of capitalism, Third it will discuss the degree to which Marx provides a framework for actually theorizing questions of race and capital, the extent to which he develops a sufficient analysis, and the degree which his framework provides a basis for comprehending at the deepest level, the relation between modern capitalism and racial oppression.Michael Goldfield is Professor Emeritus, and currently Senior Research Fellow at the Douglas Fraser Center for the Study of Workplace Issues at Wayne State University. He is the author of numerous articles on labor, race, and the global economy including most recently, The Southern Key: Class, Race, and Radicalism in the 1930s and 1940s.Chair: Ashok Kumar PLEASE NOTE: All events for HM Online are free to register, however we would ask comrades who are able to please consider making a donation, which would help us enormously in covering the costs of putting of this programme of events. Like all left organisations, HM has had a very tough period since the beginning of 2020 and our budgets are very stretched and bank balance is sinking all the time, with very little revenue coming in. If you can make a contribution to keep us afloat, please don’t hesitate! You can donate by selecting the &#x27;donation&#x27; ticket type at registration.Once you have registered, a link to the live session will be emailed to you on the day of the event. For any technical queries please contact historicalmaterialism@soas.ac.ukPlease consider subscribing to the Historical Materialism journal, published by BRILL. www.brill.com/hima

"Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen": A book launch with Nicolas Helm-Grovas

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