Selling Social Justice: Why the Ruling Class Loves Antiracism

(Paperback)

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Its not simply that big business has cynically co-opted an authentic grassroots uprising, but that an unwitting alliance exists between the main line of the racial justice movement and capitalism. In other words, capitalism has found a way to be antiracist without doing a thing to mitigate inequality, racial or otherwise. 87 companies on the S&P 100 released statements on racial justice; 79 pledged money to racial justice-related causes; 66 pledged to hire more diverse candidates; and 50 pledged to diversify their C-suites and boards. High-end gallerists open showrooms with all black staff and uptown Manhattan private schools have issued seemingly radical anti-racist manifestos. Budgets for DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) have ballooned. For all that commitment and spending, change has been fleeting for those at the bottom. Using compelling journalistic prose combined with deep political analysis, Selling Social Justice investigates the rise and spread of contemporary racial justice ideology. In this critique from the left, Pan traces the evolution of seemingly radical ideas about race as they are integrated into the logic and policy of corporate America. And it is precisely the extent to which demands are adjusted to suit elite interests that they undermine the possibility of building a coalition capable of advancing distributive justice and greater equality.

Author Bio

Jen Pan is the co-host of the Jacobin Show (50,000 subscribers). She is a former staff writer at The New Republic and has written for the Nation, the Atlantic, Jacobin, and Dissent, and her work has been cited by New York Magazine, Gawker, Jezebel, Longreads, and other outlets.