ABSTRACT

The explosion of identity-based movements, has brought issues of social oppression to the forefront of political and academic debates. These emerging voices have emphasized the intertwined fates of social oppression and capitalist development and in doing so, they have challenged traditional assumptions and mores regarding the role of race, gender, caste and ethnicity in reproducing capitalism. It is in this context that this article highlights the views of radical anti-apartheid activists on the relation between race and capitalism. To put things in perspective, the recent political effervescence has gone hand in hand with a resurgence of interest in anti-racist voices from the global south but missing in these discussions are the anti-apartheid voices from South Africa that played a crucial role in overthrowing the authoritarian regime and who, in the process made innovative theoretical interventions that highlighted the close relation between racism and capitalism. It is towards these writings that this article turns to and hopes to underline their enduring legacy.

KEYWORDS: Racial capitalism; class; Marxism; internal colonialism; global south

From: International Critical Thought 2021 11 (4)

Editor: Wang Yi