White Dominion as Control: On Scientific Management and Racial Capitalism

Authors

Jonathan Masin-Peters, Johns Hopkins UniversityFollow

ORCID

0000-0001-8681-5697

Keywords

white dominion, control, ownership, capitalism, Taylorism, white identity, scientific management

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Research Article

Abstract

This essay deepens the analysis of whiteness-as-dominion recently advanced by political theorist Ella Myers. Drawing on W.E.B. Du Bois, Myers focuses on the role that ideas of ownership and possession play in white racial identity. While I am persuaded that ownership and whiteness are cojoined, ownership does not necessarily imply control, although the former may be a prerequisite for the latter. I therefore argue that the idea of white dominion can be enhanced by paying greater attention to practices of racial control. More specifically, I focus on racialized modes of labor control via scientific management, or what recent scholars describe as “whiteness-as-management.” Understanding racial capitalism through the lens of control helps us see the tactics that are used to create and maintain racial identity and dominion.

Recommended Citation

Masin-Peters, Jonathan (2022) "White Dominion as Control: On Scientific Management and Racial Capitalism," Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis: Vol. 1: Iss. 2, Article 3.
DOI:
Available at: https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/emancipations/vol1/iss2/3