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How are the dynamics of race, class, and economic accumulation interrelated in contemporary South Africa?

Post-1994, the promise was a deracialized capitalism. Yet, extreme inequality persists along racial lines while a Black elite has emerged. My research asks: Does this represent a new class formation transcending race, or is capital accumulation still fundamentally structured by racial identity and history?

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By Keerthi Gupta Answered 1 year ago

In my analysis, race and class in South Africa are not parallel systems but co-constituted. Post-1994 liberalization enabled the rise of a politically-connected Black elite—a process termed "black economic empowerment." However, this has not deracialized accumulation. Instead, the underlying structure of the economy, marked by the racialized ownership of land and capital, remains intact. The working class is still overwhelmingly Black, and poverty remains racialized. We are seeing a re-articulation, not a dissolution, of racial capitalism, where class differentiation within racial groups grows, but the fundamental link between racial identity and economic position endures, sustained by inherited advantage and market forces that reproduce historical inequities.

 

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