On Violence, Race, and Social Theory

Thinking with Wacquant and Du Bois

in Contention
Author:
Ali Meghji Associate Professor, University of Cambridge, UK am2059@cam.ac.uk

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3167/cont.2023.110206
Keywords:
colonialism; Du Bois; ethnoracial violence; social theory; Wacquant
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Abstract

In this article, I offer an engagement with Wacquant's checkerboard of ethnoracial violence. Drawing on material from the digitalized W. E. B. Du Bois archive, I focus on two theses of Du Boisian thought that I believe can enrich Wacquant's theorization of ethnoracial violence. In particular, I highlight how Du Bois emphasized (1) the process by which colonial violence gets (mis)recognized as nonviolence; and (2) how ethnoracial violence connects to capital accumulation as an essentially profitable enterprise. Bringing Du Bois’ work into the picture, I invite Wacquant to consider the relationship between ethnoracial violence and racial capitalism and to engage in a fuller discussion about the struggles in social space over the very definition of violence itself. I conclude by questioning how we might connect Wacquant's contemporary theorization with the work of intellectuals—such as Du Bois—who have put ethnoracial violence at the center of their concerns.

Contributor Notes

Ali Meghji is Associate Professor in Social Inequalities at the University of Cambridge. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Sociology Compass, and co-editor of the British Journal of Sociology. His most recent book is A Critical Synergy: Race, Decoloniality, and World Crises (2023) published with Temple University Press. Email: am2059@cam.ac.uk

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Contention

The Multidisciplinary Journal of Social Protest

Cover Contention
Article Category:
Research Article
Page Count:
14
Keywords:
colonialism; Du Bois; ethnoracial violence; social theory; Wacquant
Print Publication Date:
01 Dec 2023
Online Publication Date:
01 Dec 2023
Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023

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