Racial Capitalism in Voltaire's Enlightenment
Accepted version
Peer-reviewed
Repository URI
Repository DOI
Change log
Authors
Giovannetti-Singh, G https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3752-6359
Abstract
jats:titleAbstract</jats:title> jats:pThis essay argues that the concept of ‘racial capitalism’ can help us understand the connections between seemingly disparate parts of Voltaire’s extensive corpus of work. It contends that even though the Enlightenment’s racial politics abounded with contradictions and ambivalences, Voltaire stood out from his contemporaries. While the connections between his polygenism – the theory that humans of different races were created separately – and material investments in colonial commerce have long been debated by radical historians, this essay suggests that Voltaire’s views about race’s relationship to labour were transformed by France’s colonial losses during the Seven Years’ War.</jats:p>
Description
Keywords
Voltaire, racial capitalism, Enlightenment, race, orientalism, slavery
Journal Title
History Workshop Journal
Conference Name
Journal ISSN
1363-3554
1477-4569
1477-4569
Volume Title
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)