Revisiting Racial Capitalism

Abstract

The brief essay is a response to an article by the French sociologist Loïc Wacquant which critiques the concept of racial capitalism that has gained much prominence and currency in recent times. It offers a historical analysis of the emergence of race as a concept in the Euro-Atlantic sphere and points to the complexities in extending it beyond that space, into the Indian Ocean world for example. As a consequence, the ambitious claims made by some theorists of racial capitalism appear difficult to sustain.