The Racialization of Global Labor

Abstract

Drawing on both historical and contemporary examples, the authors argue that today's global capitalist system is maintained and structured within a global system of White supremacy. Groups of workers are located within a hierarchically organized, racialized labor system that differentially exploits workers based upon their racialized and gendered location. Dominant racialized labor groups (mainly White/European workers) are in general afforded more privileges than subordinate racialized labor groups (workers of color), who face the denial of basic citizenship rights and higher degrees of exploitation and inferior working conditions.