What is Racial Capitalism?

In recent years, the term ‘racial capitalism’ has proliferated among scholars and activists, with multiple, often inconsistent, meanings. In this talk, I explore the way the term was developed by South African scholars in response to apartheid, its adoption by Cedric Robinson, and the ways that Stuart Hall, influenced by the same sources, developed an effective account of racism and capitalism's mutual imbrication. Finally, I argue that the violent racialization of Europe’s border systems can only be understood with a racial capitalism framework.