Racial capitalism is said to refer to the relationship between racial oppression and exploitation by capitalists, a relationship that strengthens one another’s impact or force. Institutions of racial domination existed in the South African apartheid state, which is said to have only been reshaped post-apartheid, and operating in such a way so as to meet the needs of capital (Bond, 1991). A Marxist perspective would thus state that institutions that dominated and oppressed served the interests of capital. Furthermore, Bond (1991) states that the division and structuring of labour developed post-apartheid have been functional to capitalism. It is stated that in the early years of apartheid, the mining and agriculture capitalists supported apartheid policies. Racial exploitation lead to economic gain for capitalists, as black labour was cheap. Bond (1991) states that Wolpe’s 1970s studies state that South Africa’s ruling class extracted surplus labour from African migrant workers, a Marxist conception of …show more content…
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