Racial Capitalism Kritik Series

This is the first video in a 3 part series on the Racial Capitalism Kritik by Taylor. Taylor recommends you go watch the political economy series if you haven’t already before watching this series.

In the first part, Taylor explains the history behind the Racial Capitalism K. Racial Capitalism was coined by Cedric Robinson. First, Robinson says capitalism has always been racial by reading through European history and how the consolidation of capital required the production of classes of people who were racialized. Different city states began colonialism and needed and administrative state and stateless people to make capitalism work. Second, Robinson argues that chattel slavery saved the capitalist/mercantilist system and expand beyond their own borders. Taylor explains the difference in how Robinson views the proletariat (not revolutionary) vs. how Marxists view the proletariat. Third, Robinson argues black radical tradition has endured.

In part 2 of this 3 part series on the Racial Capitalism Kritik, Taylor talks about different genres of argument you could operationalize in a debate on this kritik. Racial Capitalism Kritik does not think the proletariat is the revolutionary subject of history. Racial Capitalism is trying to understand questions of dispossession and expropriation.

When making link arguments, you could focus on expropriation of bodies, lands, resources, various kinds of wealth, or even in terms of certain subjectivity. There's a lot of different link arguments that you can make. There's three different type of link arguments that you should make. First is links to plan action. Section is kritiks of the aff's epistemology or representations. Third is structural or positional links. The racial cap K is calling into question the European subject as a class. There's a bunch of different link arguments you can make. Appropriation or commodification links can also work with the racial capitalism.

There's a lot of different alternatives you can read, but you should make sure it directly compete with the aff. Taylor recommends looking into intercommunalism, dual power, and diagonal organizing for your alternative and reading books like Jackie Wang's Carceral Capitalism.

In the final part, Taylor talks about how to read the racial cap K versus both critical affs and planned affs.

When reading a kritik, you should start with thinking about how your alternative is going to compete with the aff. The alternative establishes competition and the links establish why it is net beneficial. The un-raced cap K is so successful because a vertical organizing alternative like dual power works really well. Those alternatives build counterhegemonic institutions against the state and create offense about how localized sites of resistance fracture coalitions or see why racial capitalism is the root cause.

You can indict the aff's model of organization. Critical affs often utilize models of resistance like revolt, micropolitical acts, or reorientations of the self. You want also want links that are outside of the method of what the aff does.

When reading the racial capitalism K vs policy teams, creating an alternative that competes with the aff should be much easier. You should have this same strategy against soft left affs. Alternatives that talk about the necessary of dual power organizing or revolt or lots of other alternatives would all be successful. Reproduction arguments could also be useful.