Racial and gendered distinctions, invariably crosscut by class relations, are two enduring pillars of the global capitalist order. Both race and gender work to delineate the kinds of labour different people are permitted or expected to do, establish limits to the mobility and freedoms available to differently embodied individuals, and unevenly expose different groups to exploitation, vulnerability, and even premature death.

Though both have a long (pre)history, neither race nor gender is a fixed or stable category. Each is a social construct that is continuously reworked and contested, its meaning, function, and salience shifting in the face of social and historical trends. Today, as an ascendant far right whips up racist and misogynist sentiment across the globe, understanding the roles race and gender fulfil in the social life of capitalist societies is of vital importance.

This ISRF workshop brings together a handful of early-career researchers who are doing cutting-edge work on these themes. Centring six book projects in progress, the workshop stages a constructive dialogue about individual chapters and identifies potential areas of future research on racial capitalism, social reproduction, feminist political economy, and related fields.

Participants to include: