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Capitalism’s Dark Complexion

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Has capitalism always partnered with race? This book examines how capitalism operates through racialised structures across different moments in global history. Moving beyond conventional class-bas...
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“Pushkala Prasad exposes the brutal realities of racial exploitation and disp... Read More
  • Format:
  • Publication Date: 16 June 2026
  • ISBN: 9781529244632
  • Pages: 234
  • Imprint: Bristol University Press

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Has capitalism always partnered with race?

This book examines how capitalism operates through racialised structures across different moments in global history. Moving beyond conventional class-based analyses, the book deepens our understanding of capitalism’s effects by exploring how race has been used to value, control and exploit populations.

From slavery and colonial dispossession to global divisions of labour, sex tourism and consumerism, Prasad offers a vital critique of how capitalism not only damages those it devalues but also shapes the way we all live—and the condition of the planet itself.

“Pushkala Prasad exposes the brutal realities of racial exploitation and dispossession that have defined capitalism throughout history. An essential read for anyone seeking to understand and challenge capitalism today”, Carl Rhodes, UTS Business School and author of Woke Capitalism.
Pushkala Prasad is the Zankel Professor of Management in the Department of Management and Business at Skidmore College.

1. Capitalism’s Dark Complexion: Race, Markets and a Global System of Valuation

2. Profiting from Human Capital: Chattel Slavery and the Commodification of Black Bodies

3. Dispossession by Any Means: Native American Encounters with Racialized Capitalism

4. The Colour of Sweat: Racialized Global Divisions of Labour

5. All-Consuming Racism: Divided Markets, Coloured Desires

6. Exhausting the Racialized Body: Extracting Pleasure and Life from Populations of Colour

7. No End in Sight: New Frontiers in the Collaborations between Race and Capital