Hardt - Negri on racism

Hardt and Negri have a section on "Imperial Racism" in their book, entitled "Empire" (Harvard U P, 2001), p.190-195.

 

The authors state: "from our perspective . . . racism has not receded but actually progressed in the contemporary world, both in extent and intensity." (p191) They construct two ideal types of racism - namely, "modern racism", which they distinguish from "the postmodern form of racism" (p191). Their concept of "modern racism" is associated with the era of national sovereignty (which is withering away, in their opinion); their concept of "postmodern racism" is associated with the era of "imperial sovereignty" ("empire", which is on the rise, in their opinion). The authors use the terms "postmodern" and "imperial" racism interchangeably.

 

Hardt and Negri describe the difference between modern and postmodern (imperial) racism in terms of two aspects - doctrinal and spatial.

 

(a) doctrinal
In their view, "modern racism" (i.e., the one associated with nation-states and colonies) was/is associated with racist theory based on biology, whereas "postmodern racism" ("imperial racism") is associated with racist theory based on culture. (p 191 etc) - "biological differences have been replaced by sociological and cultural identifiers as the key representation of racial hatred and fear." (p191)

 

(b) spatial dimension
Their concept of "modern racism" has a spatial dimension, as in "colony" and "nation-state". In contrast, their concept of "imperial racism" is non-spatial. Instead of being related to "colony" and "nation-state" (territorially defined entities), their "imperial racism" operates in a world without borders and is based on "degrees of deviance from whiteness" (p194). They write, "modern racism takes place on its boundary, in the global antithesis between inside and outside. . . .Imperial racism . . . rests on the play of differences and the management of micro-conflictualities within its continually expanding domain." (p195) As examples for "modern", as opposed to "postmodern"/"imperial", racism they mention: "Manichaen divisions and rigid exclusionary practices (in South Africa, in the colonial city, in the southeastern United States, or in Palestine) as the paradigm of modern racism" (p191).

 

Hardt-Negri's section on racism is only 5 pages long and is a theoretical sketch rather than a detailed historical or sociological analysis. 

 

On the critical side, it appears questionable whether there is anything "postmodern" about the 'imperial racism' that they describe. For example, a formulation like "the management of micro-conflictualities within its continually expanding domain" also describes former colonial management in Rwanda or British imperial management in the Indian subcontinent.

 

Gert