A Marxist Critique of "Black Marxism" (feat. August Nimtz)

I’m joined by August H. Nimtz, author of “Black Marxism”: A Marxist Critique, a groundbreaking new book that offers a thorough critique of Cedric Robinson’s influential Black Marxism. Robinson's text has been highly influential on the academic leftist scene and its ideas have come to shape the discourse on the meaning of Marxism, most especially on the American left. But what if the bulk of this book's ideas are a distortion of Marxist analysis? This is the argument of my guest August Nimtz. In this discussion, we examine several concepts that have become central to contemporary left-wing thought, including “racial capitalism.” We also discuss how Marx and Engels understood race and racial oppression, whether Marxism is fundamentally Eurocentric, and what the classical Marxist tradition can contribute to struggles against racism and capitalism today. August H. Nimtz is Professor of Political Science and African American and African Studies at the University of Minnesota. He is the author of Marx and Engels: Their Contribution to the Democratic Breakthrough, Marx, Tocqueville, and Race in America, and the acclaimed two-volume Lenin’s Electoral Strategy, published in paperback as The Ballot, the Streets—or Both. Learn more about “Black Marxism”: A Marxist Critique: https://monthlyreview.org/9781685901752 ------ Please join us to participate in future study groups and gain early access to all of my interviews, talks and lectures:   / emancipations