"Black Marxism"

“Veteran Marxist scholar and activist August Nimtz has given us in this masterful study the most decisive intervention in many years in the race-versus-class debate. This work could not be more timely given the urgency of building proletarian consciousness and unity in the face of global capitalist crisis and the threat of fascism. As Professor Nimtz put it, there is a fundamental incompatibility between the ‘Black Marxism’ of Cedric Robinson and the real Marxist project. He shows why ‘Black Marxism’ is ‘not only useless but in today’s world dangerous – a chimera, a faux solution.’” - William I. Robinson (Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of California at Santa Barbara)

“August Nimtz was the first to offer a critical review of Cedric Robinson’s 1983 book, Black Marxism. Since Robinson’s passing in 2016, his notions of “racial capitalism” and the “black radical tradition” have generated more confusion than insight regarding the origins of race and capitalism, and the historical power of socialism. Thankfully, Nimtz has expanded his formative criticism of Robinson here, providing us with the kind of materialist analysis we so desperately need in these grim political times. There is simply no better antidote to the analytical flaws and mischief of Robinson’s work than the book you are holding right now.” —Cedric Johnson, author, After Black Lives Matter: Policing and Anti-Capitalist Struggle

August Nimtz, Jr. is Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota. He is the author of:

• Marx, Tocqueville, and Race in America: the “Absolute Democracy” or “Defiled Republic”
• Marx and Engels: Their Contribution to the Democratic Breakthrough
• Islam and Politics in East Africa: the Sufi Order in Tanzania