Resisting the New Racial Regime

The New Racial Regime: Recalibrations of White Supremacy extends Cedric J. Robinson’s idea of the racial regime by observing its many recalibrations in the current conjuncture. I explore how the racial regime of the 2020s undergirds the formation of new expressions of white supremacy. My talk will draw on examples from the book – counterinsurgency within educational institutions, attacks on Black and Indigenous history, and the curious co-optation of decolonising initiatives – to pull back the curtain on the functioning of racial regimes as they support racial capitalism hurtling towards fascism. I emphasise that the recalibration of the racial regime is always a response to resistance from below, which unpicks its stitches even as it appears ascendant. Working collectively to gather the resources necessary for this effort is the work we are called to in the face of increasing assaults on the People’s freedom dreams.