Beyond ‘white monopoly capital’: Understanding race, control, and cohesion in the South African corporate elite

Abstract

ABSTRACT White monopoly capital’ (WMC) has become one of the most ubiquitous terms in the South African political lexicon, bolstered by a re-energised nationalist movement. Its rise has been the occasion for a welcome debate on the changing dimensions of race, power, and control in the capitalist class. However, that debate has remained polarised between a camp that has been largely dismissive of the very possibility of a racial power bloc and one that sees it as a self-evident reality. By posing the question of whether WMC is a ‘useful’ category of analysis, this article seeks to take a more historical and empirical approach to the issue. It argues that WMC analyses implicitly overstate both the extent of white control and the extent of racial division in the elite. Yet, it argues, race still has important impacts on elite politics both within the corporate sphere and across the wider field of business. It concludes by sketching avenues of research on the politics of race, control, and cohesion in the South African elite.