Democracy and Empire
Labor, Nature, and the Reproduction of Capitalism

Reconceptualizes central notions in political theory to make sense of the systems of imperial popular sovereignty and self-determination.

Inés Valdez (Author)

9781009384001, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 23 January 2025

254 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.417 kg

'… offers a groundbreaking re-conceptualization of racial capitalism by revealing how popular sovereignty intertwines domestic hierarchies with global systems of exploitation. As such, this work provides an important framework for anyone interested in the mechanisms of power and exploitation in today's world.' Andrew S. Rosenberg, The Journal of Development Studies

Democracy and Empire theorizes the material basis of popular sovereignty via the Black radical tradition. Popular sovereignty contains an affective attachment to wealth, secured through collective agreements to dominate others, i.e., self-and-other-determination. Inés Valdez expands on racial capitalism by theorizing its Anglo-European-based popular politics, which authorize capital accumulation enabled by empire and legitimated by racial ideologies. This stunts political projects in the Global South. Valdez masterfully outlines how social reproduction is provided by racialized others who sacrifice families and communities, and how the political alienation from nature in wealthy polities is mediated by technology and enabled by a joint devaluation of nature and manual labor performed by racialized others. The book concludes with a theorization of anti-imperial popular sovereignty based on political relations that encompass nature. This title is part of the Flip it Open Programme and may also be available Open Access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.

Introduction
1. Empire, Popular Sovereignty, and the Problem of Self-and-Other-Determination
2. Socialism and Empire: Labor Mobility, Popular Sovereignty, and the Genesis of Racial Regimes
3. The Brown Family and Social Reproduction in US Capitalism
4. Techno-Racism, Manual Labor, and Du Bois's Ecological Critique
5. Anti-Imperial Popular Sovereignty and the Politics of Transnational Solidarity
6. Anti-Imperial Popular Sovereignty and the Politics of Transnational Solidarity.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA]