Marx and Haiti

Although modern racism was fully developed by their time,Marx (and Engels) did not engage in a theoretical discussionof its essential features. This analytical silence isinvestigated in the chapter Marx and Haiti: Notes ona Blank Space. At the same time, the chapters of thisvolume demonstrate that and why the principles of ahistorical materialist analysis of society present links fora critical theory of racism. In the chapter Dehumanization and Social Death: Fundamentals ofRacism, this is shown concerning the various historicalshapes of racisms caused by different forms of classrelations. The chapter Racismflq: Birth of aConcept connects the conceptual history of racism with thesocio-historical conflicts of differently affected socialgroups. Finally, the chapter A HistoricalMaterialist Theory of Racism: Introduction addresses basicelements of a Marxist analysis of racism. It elucidates thenecessity of a theoretical conjunction of classist andracist discrimination as well as the historicaldifferentiation of racisms.