Black Reconstruction : W. E. B. Du Bois in Racial Capitalism Theory

Black Reconstruction (1935) should be included in discussions on the epistemological history of racial capitalism. I argue its inclusion would address many of the critiques leveled against the theory. Using archival data from the Phelps Stokes Fund records, Du Bois Papers, and The Crisis , I highlight the global political context in which Du Bois's critique of racial capitalism emerged. I also demonstrate how Black Reconstruction challenges critiques of racial capitalism theory, which center on Cedric Robinson's Black Marxism (1983). I conclude that the current occlusion of Black Reconstruction from discussions of racial capitalism speaks to the political context Du Bois was critiquing and hinders sociologists' ability to analyze the connections between racial violence and capitalism within the US Empire.