Racial Capitalism in Voltaire’s Enlightenment

Abstract This essay argues that the concept of ‘racial capitalism’ can help us understand connections between seemingly disparate parts Voltaire’s extensive corpus work. It contends even though Enlightenment’s racial politics abounded with contradictions and ambivalences, Voltaire stood out from his contemporaries. While polygenism – theory humans different races were created separately material investments in colonial commerce have long been debated by radical historians, this suggests views about race’s relationship to labour transformed France’s losses during Seven Years’ War.