This book provides a comprehensive and historically grounded examination of racism through the lens of Marxist theory. Synthesizing decades of scholarship, it interrogates how race and racism are not incidental to capitalism, but structurally embedded within its ideological and material foundations. Drawing on historical materialism, the author traces the evolution of racial ideologies from slavery and colonialism to contemporary expressions of systemic inequality, racialized migration, and far-right resurgence. The book critically engages with classical and neo-Marxist thinkers to explore how racism functions as a mechanism of division, exploitation, and ideological control. Using the United States as a case study, it demonstrates how racialized capitalism manifests in labour exploitation, policing, immigration control, and cultural hegemony, while addressing unresolved debates in race theory, including the primacy of race versus class, and the historical construction of race as a social category. As such, this volume will be of use to scholars of sociology, Black studies, political theory, and postcolonial studies seeking to confront the structural mechanisms of racial oppression.
Bayo Ayodeji
Marxism Race Racism Capitalism SDG 10 Sustainable Development Goals United States. Historical materialism ethnic minorities marginalisation discrimination Global capitalism Inequality