City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 2-2019 Limits of the Black Radical Tradition and the Value-form Shemon Salam The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2972 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] LIMITS OF THE BLACK RADICAL TRADITION AND THE VALUE-FORM by SHEMON SALAM A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Earth and Environmental Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York. 2019 © 2019 SHEMON SALAM All Rights Reserved ii Limits of the Black Radical Tradition and the Value-form by Shemon Salam This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Earth and Environmental Sciences in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. November 30, 2018 _______________________ Date Ruth Wilson Gilmore Chair of Examining Committee _________________ _______________________ Date Cindi Katz Executive Officer Supervisory Committee: Rupal Oza Monica Varsanyi THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK ABSTRACT Limits of the Black Radical Tradition and the Value-form by Shemon Salam Advisor: Ruth Wilson Gilmore The Black Radical Tradition was supposed to be victorious against racial capitalism. Instead the tradition was defeated by the early 1970s never to return again. Surprisingly the scholarship still treats the tradition as if this world historic defeat never happened. Furthermore, geographers have not reckoned with this defeat. Limits of the Black Radical Tradition and the Value-form begins the process of starting a debate, hoping to ignite radical rethinking around the nature of the Black Radical Tradition, racial capitalism, and the value-form. The first chapter looks at the categories of defeat in the Black liberation movement. It explores the common explanations of defeat and argues for the closure of those categories. I hope to bring in new and more robust categories--value-form and systemic dialectics-- to theorize Black liberation. The second chapter uses the concept of the Black Radical Tradition to rethink how early communists dealt with the question of race, class, nationalism, and gender. The Black Radical Tradition blurs the boundaries of race and nation revealing they are tools used for the purposes of liberation. This insight applied to gender, shows theorists used it to claim a vanguard role, universalism, and program for liberation. In the third chapter I interrogate Cedric Robinson's Black Marxism, and specifically his argument of the Black Radical Tradition. I argue that the Black Radical Tradition was defeated iv by the early 1970s by the value-form. The Black Radical Tradition, a fundamentally cultural tradition, was penetrated by capitalist social relations. The fourth chapter investigates the political thought of C.L.R. James. James posed direct democracy and the immediate negation of capitalism and the state. But when it came to the Black liberation movement, it was the struggle for the vote and citizenship. This chapter explores why and how James developed a bifurcated analysis regarding Black liberation. My fifth chapter looks at the strategy of affirmation and universalism of the Black liberation movement. Like the workers movement that positively identified the worker as the subject of revolution; including and excluding groups in the category of worker, the Black revolution did the same except with the concept of Black. Crucially Black revolution by the end of the sixties came to rival the communist revolution, positing another route to the destruction of capitalism and white supremacy. This dynamic of defeat has yet to be theorized. The final chapter works through the concept of racial capitalism through value-form theory. Not only is race produced systemically in capitalism, but at the highest and most abstract categories of Capital. v Acknowledgements This dissertation is a humbling and transformative effort. It could not have happened without the help, mentoring, and discussion of many people. I owe many people thanks, hugs, and much more in the process of completing Limits of the Black Radical Tradition and the Value-form. I want to thank the librarians, staff members, and other professionals that have been so critical in gathering archival material. A particular thanks to everyone at the Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University and at the James Archives at the University of West Indies, St. Augustine. Chris Shortsleeve and Aldon Sajor Marte-Wood for their fantastic study group on race and capitalism in 2018. Veryl Pow for walking me through on how to do a proper interview. He is my getting a j.o.b. coach for life. Zhana Khurti, Idris Robinson, John Clegg, and Delio Vasquez for being funny and unforgiving comrades. Michael Stauch for becoming a co-thinker with me on questions of Black liberation in the post-World War II era. Noel Ignatiev for his rough and tumble polemics that were always helpful and provocative. Arturo Castillion for his militancy and determination in organize the streets. Matt Hamilton is a long-time friend and comrade. I hope his influence on me, has made me a better person and a better thinker. I also want to thank Sulaiman Salam and Sophia Rahman for putting up with me. Reconnecting with comrades of old: Ian Morgan, JM Wong, and Escenthio Marigny Jr. has been a tremendous boost of energy, comfort, and meaning in my life. I feel very fortunate to have them back. I have been fortunate enough to know Gerald Smith in Oakland and benefit from his knowledge of Black liberation. We have discussed for hours the particularities of race in the vi United States. I first met Saja Raoof at Wayne State’s campus organizing for Palestine solidarity. Her commitment to liberation was important in setting my own horizon. Mike Ermler has always been a guiding figure through his immeasurable knowledge of liberation struggles and his devastating critiques of Marxism. Any question I had, Mike always had a historically grounded response. I owe a lot to Loren Goldner. Personally, he has been a source of inspiration for many years. His commitment to intellectual honesty and rigor is a model I strive for. His internationalism to the toilers of the world is remarkable. I remember with clarity the long hours Loren helped me learn about the intricacies of Capital. I came over Loren’s home with pages of questions on his masterful Remaking of the American Working Class. Loren as with everything, was generous with his time and knowledge. If I think of New York City, I cannot separate Julio Martinez, Dennis Barachada, and Chris Shepherd from my life there. I organized with them, had fun with them, and did a lot of thinking with them. I miss them terribly these days. My year at the Center for Place Culture and Politics discussing consciousness and revolution was inspiring, intellectually stimulating, and fun. A special thanks to Sarah Ohmer. You took the time to talk to an aspiring scholar who had much to learn about university life. Your advice and encouragement pushed me forward to the end. To Christian Seiner, our conversations in the end helped me finish a project that seemed to have no end. I want to thank members of my committee, Rupal Oza and Monica Varsanyi for being so patient with me through all the twists and turns. It took a long, long time, but I finally made it. Their classes were nurturing, inspiring, and challenging spaces that pushed my development further. I want to thank my advisor Ruth Wilson Gilmore for giving me a chance and taking me vii under her wings. Her understanding of racial capitalism has changed how I see the world, myself, and the type of scholarship that must be produced. Her life as a scholar-activist has shaped my own understanding of the academy and the rough and tough world of activism. I hope to bring her intellectual rigor, dedication, and joy to the classroom. I owe much to Terf as a confidant, as an intellectual interlocuter, an editor, and an amazing friend. I talked to him every day while writing the dissertation, discussing the ups and downs, the absurdities, and all the rest. He was my connection to the outside world. I could not imagine completing Limits without our daily conversations. To my mom and dad who came to America and raised two sons in a world they were not ready for. I think my mom would be proud. This country was not kind to her and certainly took her life. Jackie Brown and Amna Ali for building me a library in Hudson, New York. This was amazing space where I worked on my dissertation for the year. They spent a lot thought and effort in designing a space specifically for me. Surrounded by Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth and James’s Black Jacobins, I wrote and wrote and wrote till I could write no more. Thank you. Amna has been there from the beginning. She has gone through the trials and tribulations of political life with me. She has gone through tragedies and misfortunes of tremendous loss with me. She has had more faith and confidence in me than anyone I have known. I still wonder why and how, but perhaps that is what love is. Over the years my partner's brilliance has never ceased to amaze me. Her instincts on race and gender are sharper and deeper than my own.