Introduction: What Does Racial Capitalism Have to Do With Cities and Communities?

Abstract

Social scientists have long debated whether racial inequality is an unfortunate consequence of political and economic exploitation or a core feature of capitalism. In 1983, Cedric Robinson synthesized these two opposing perspectives, calling the latter racial capitalism and demonstrating its theoretical viability. In recent years, scholars have increasingly employed Robinson’s conception of racial capitalism to explain a wide array of phenomena. Yet, urban sociology has not fully explored how racial capitalism changes and reshapes our core theoretical approaches. To begin to fill this gap, this special issue presents original papers that employ racial capitalism to extend, challenge, or refine theories of and methods for understanding cities and communities. In this introduction, we outline urban scholars’ historical explanations of racial inequality and provide an overview of the development and definition(s) of racial capitalism. We then summarize the papers included in this special issue and discuss a pathway forward for urban sociology.

The Rise of Asian Ethnoburbs: A Case of Self-Segregation?

“…First, these findings underscore the racial foundations of modern White flight. That White households appear more likely to flee distinctly affluent ethnoburbs suggests further work must be done to account for the limitations embedded within traditional models of neighborhood attainment (Dantzler, Korver-Glenn, and Howell 2022). Though these models tend to view “spatial assimilation” as a static outcome reasonably achieved through socioeconomic means, the findings from this study suggest that socioeconomic achievement has diminishing returns for middle-class Asian households.…”

Suburbs, Inc.: Exploring Municipal Incorporation as a Mechanism of Racial and Economic Exclusion in Suburban Communities

“…First, the Tiebout model assumes absolute mobility of all residents; that is, any resident could move to any jurisdiction in their region (Dowding, John, and Biggs 1994). Em-s u b u r b a n i n e q u a l i t y r s f : t h e r u s s e l l s a g e f o u n d a t i o n j o u r n a l o f t h e s o c i a l s c i e n c e s pirical work on residential preferences and moves, however, show that the U.S. housing market is shaped by systems of capitalism and racism such that people of color and the poor may not be able to move to their preferred jurisdiction-or that their preferred jurisdiction has worse services and amenities than they would like (Dantzler, Korver-Glenn, and Howell 2022;Massey and Denton 1993;DeLuca and Jang-Trettien 2020). Second, the Tiebout model lacks a relational understanding of places.…”

Can Anti‐Blackness Become As Systematic as Uneven Development in Geography?

“…Recent work by Dantzler (2021), Dantzler et al . (2022), Dorries (2017), Dorries et al . (2022), Korver‐Glenn (2018, 2021), Howell and Korver‐Glenn (2018), and Rodriguez (2021) among many others is not “discovering” the contribution of figures like Marable, Robinson, and Du Bois.…”

“…Fortunately, the future for urban political economy is bright because it is filled with young scholars who are building from the insights of the Black radical tradition and UPE. Recent work by Dantzler (2021), Dantzler et al (2022), Dorries (2017), Dorries et al (2022), Korver-Glenn (2018, Howell and Korver-Glenn (2018), and Rodriguez (2021) among many others is not "discovering" the contribution of figures like Marable, Robinson, and Du Bois. They are beginning with this work as a foundation -not as a foundation to destroy the valuable insights of urban political economy, but as the basis for asking those big questions with a proper understanding of how powerful anti-Blackness was and remains.…”