The Structure of Race

Abstract

An attempt is made to outline a systematic Marxist theory of race relations. Traditional leftist analyses of race and racism are criticized for relying on liberal idealist and conservative racialist notions. As an alternative, Althusserian structuralist notions of ideology and the logic of the mode of production are employed in the analysis of groups falsely considered to be races. It is argued that three specific positions in the capitalist mode of production structurally define "inferior races": the positions of special exploitation, exclusion and mediation. It is suggested that the tendency for black people to be increasingly defined as an excluded population and less as an especially exploited group may possibly establish the conditions for a radical increase in their vulnerability.