The Historical Contingencies of Racialized Class Relations

• In Event: 2183 - Section on Race, Gender, and Class Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 03. Issues of Class and Mobility

Abstract

Capital since its inception has relied on creating and promoting social divisions that help it facilitate its need for constant expansion and intensification. None have been more significant in this regard than those brought about by the concept of race. The boundaries of this concept have shifted according to the needs of the current stage of capitalism. At different points in history, various and often amorphous ethnic groupings have been placed into concretized racialized hierarchies. As we enter even deeper into the landscape brought about by the latest phase of world capitalism (the globalization phase), we find that once again racial relations are in flux and are being reproduced in order to accommodate the needs of capital. This paper seeks to investigate what these new changes entail and what their implications are for negatively racialized groups. How can we think about the reproduction of "race" in the context of transnationalizing material and social relations?

Authors

• Jeb Sprague-Silgado, University of California-Santa Barbara

• Salvador Rangel, University of California-Santa Barbara