Race, Nation, Class: Ambiguous Identities
by Immanuel Wallerstein /
1991 / English / PDF
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Forty years after the defeat of Nazism, and twenty years after the
great wave of decolonization, how is it that racism remains a
Forty years after the defeat of Nazism, and twenty years after the
great wave of decolonization, how is it that racism remains agrowing
growing phenomenon? What are the special characteristics of
contemporary racism? How can it be related to class divisions and
to the contradictions of the nation-state? And how far, in turn,
does racism today compel us to rethink the relationship between
class struggles and nationalism?
phenomenon? What are the special characteristics of
contemporary racism? How can it be related to class divisions and
to the contradictions of the nation-state? And how far, in turn,
does racism today compel us to rethink the relationship between
class struggles and nationalism?
This book attempts to answer these fundamental questions through a
remarkable dialogue between the French philosopher Etienne Balibar
and the American historian and sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein.
Each brings to the debate the fruits of over two decades of
analytical work, greatly inspired, respectively, by Louis Althusser
and Fernand Braudel.
This book attempts to answer these fundamental questions through a
remarkable dialogue between the French philosopher Etienne Balibar
and the American historian and sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein.
Each brings to the debate the fruits of over two decades of
analytical work, greatly inspired, respectively, by Louis Althusser
and Fernand Braudel.
Both authors challenge the commonly held notion of racism as a
continuation of, or throwback to, the xenophobias of past societies
and communities. They analyse it instead as a social relation
indissolubly tied to present social structures—the nation-state,
the division of labour, and the division between core and
periphery—which are themselves constantly being reconstructed.
Despite their productive disagreements, Balibar and Wallerstein
both emphasize the modernity of racism and the need to understand
its relation to contemporary capitalism and class struggle. Above
all, their dialogue reveals the forms of present and future social
conflict, in a world where the crisis of the nation-state is
accompanied by an alarming rise of nationalism and chauvinism.
Both authors challenge the commonly held notion of racism as a
continuation of, or throwback to, the xenophobias of past societies
and communities. They analyse it instead as a social relation
indissolubly tied to present social structures—the nation-state,
the division of labour, and the division between core and
periphery—which are themselves constantly being reconstructed.
Despite their productive disagreements, Balibar and Wallerstein
both emphasize the modernity of racism and the need to understand
its relation to contemporary capitalism and class struggle. Above
all, their dialogue reveals the forms of present and future social
conflict, in a world where the crisis of the nation-state is
accompanied by an alarming rise of nationalism and chauvinism.
