Slavery and Capitalism: A Reading Group

Join us for a five-session reading group on David McNally’s recently published Slavery and Capitalism: A New Marxist History. McNally’s book presents a systematic Marxist account of the capitalist character of Atlantic slavery to support the provocative claim that enslaved labor in the plantation system is a form of capitalist commodity production. Weaving together history, political economy, and radical abolitionism, McNally demonstrates that plantation slaves formed a modern working class and highlights the self-activity of enslaved people fighting for their freedom. He reframes their resistance as labor struggles over production and reproduction, with significant implications for US and Atlantic history and for understanding the roots of racial capitalism.

Facilitated by Fred Murphy. Over the past decade, Fred has led numerous MEP study groups on political economy, ecosocialism, science and technology, and Latin American politics. He studied and taught historical sociology at the New School for Social Research.