The weaponry of racial capitalism: Gargi Bhattacharyya (2024) The futures of racial capitalism (Polity)

This paper uses Gargi Bhattacharyya (2024)’s The futures of racial capitalism to explore the analytical strengths and limits of the term ‘racial capitalism.’ I discuss its popularity in the post-2008 university classroom and examine criticism of the concept. I suggest the main strength of Bhattacharyya’s work is to treat racial capitalism as an invisibilization mechanism which undermines shared recognition of the cross-racial immiseration of different groups. Defining the notion this way opens pathways to non-essentialist understandings of the relationship between class, race and capitalist exploitation.