Ethno-Racial Capitalism in Contemporary Fashion: Forced Labour and the Uyghur Crisis

This contribution explores ethno-racial capitalism within contemporary fashion, by dissecting the complex case of the Uyghur minority and China’s north-western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), which only recently reached the public attention. With references to institutional reports, human rights platforms, and testimonies (United Nations 2022; Byler 2022; Human Rights Watch 2021; Murphy et al. 2021; Tobin et al. 2021; ASPI 2020), the study problematises the Uyghur crisis in relation to the global scenario, interpreting the case of XUAR as fashion latest ‘sacrifice zone’ (Niessen 2020). In particular, the role of XUAR for fashion’s global supply chains and the treatment of the Uyghur minority are analysed within the broader theoretical context of ‘racial capitalism’ (Robinson [1983] 2000; Vergès 2017, [2019)] 2021), with the study bringing in conversation Black Marxism (Robinson [1983] 2000) and Marxist feminism (Federici 2004, 2021), in addressing the impact of racism, sexism and nationalism on the organisation of labour under capitalism. The contribution argues that, alongside unveiling complex power dynamics within the capitalist-nationalist world order, and highlighting the need of new mandatory standards, this complex case allows us to draw crucial considerations on the convergence of social, racial and environmental justice for a revolutionary politics of sustainability.