The classic history of how the identity of "white worker" came to be, and the awful results.

An enduring history of how race and class came together to mark the course of the antebellum US and our present crisis. Roediger shows that in a nation pledged to independence, but less and less able to avoid the harsh realities of wage labor, the identity of "white" came to allow many Northern workers to see themselves as having something in common with their bosses. Projecting onto enslaved people and free Blacks the preindustrial closeness to pleasure that regimented labor denied them, "white workers" consumed blackface popular culture, reshaped languages of class, and embraced racist practices on and off the job. Far from simply preserving economic advantage, white working-class racism derived its terrible force from a complex series of psychological and ideological mechanisms that reinforced stereotypes and helped to forge the very identities of white workers in opposition to Blacks. Full of insight regarding the precarious positions of not-quite-white Irish immigrants to the US and the fate of working class abolitionism, Wages of Whiteness contributes mightily and soberly to debates over the 1619 Project and critical race theory.

"The Celestine Prophecy of whiteness studies." - SPIN

"An extremely important and insightful book." - The Nation

"A brilliant account of how white workers in antebellum America constructed a social identity fundamentally premised on their 'whiteness.'" - American Historical Review

"Compelling." - Times Higher Education Supplement

"Delivers powerful insights into the collective psyche of the U.S. working class. Striking." - Morning Star

"An important contribution to our understanding of what has often been called 'American exceptionalism.' Sensitive and detailed handling of a wide range of original sources." - Race and Class

"Brilliant. Remarkable for its subtlety, its penetrating and honest analysis." - People's Culture

"Scholarly and thoroughly documented, The Wages of Whiteness is nonetheless a highly readable, compact and compelling narrative. A provocative illumination of the long and tortuous history of racism in the U.S." - Heartland Journal

"Casts a new light on a broad social, cultural and political landscape." - Journal of American History

"An indispensable addition to our knowledge of American working class formation." - Journal of Social History

"In this penetrating study of the origins of white working-class racial attitudes, Roediger profoundly illuminates the new labor history. A distinctive extension of the scholarly studies that locate the nexus of American society in race and labor." - Choice

"A timely and important intervention in the current debates over 'race' and ethnicity. Roediger has opened up the question of white identity." - New Left Review

"Interesting and useful. Reconstructs how labor in America made racism part of its very being." - Telos

"A brilliant, authoritative, carefully researched study of major importance." - Radical History Review

"A real contribution to the study of the dynamic relationship that exists between the variables of race and class. A very engaging and compelling book. Wages of Whiteness will have a broad appeal to students and researchers across a wide array of disciplines." - European Journal of Intercultural Studies

"A welcome challenge to the old and new mythmakers." - Labor [Le Travail]

"A significant contribution, particularly necessary for those who want to see the struggle for labor unity across racial lines move forward." - Science and Society

"Roediger's lasting contribution ensures that the history of race and class can no longer be written from the perspective of romantic working class heroes, nor can it be written in a spirit of self-righteous 'anger.'" - New Politics

"Subtle, serious, commands our attention" - Ethnic and Racial Studies

"Roediger's excellent book is must reading for those interested in American working-class formation." - Critical Sociology

"In The Wages of Whiteness David Roediger takes a courageous look at the development of white working-class racism and attempts to unravel its complex skein of economic, cultural, and psycho-political issues." - Foundation News

"Of great originality and yet firmly grounded in a rich and diverse scholarship. There is no denying the enormous achievement of this book. Henceforth there will be no evading the question of racism in our contemplation of working-class formation in America." - Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"Offers a compelling understanding of working-class racism. A rich and detailed history that traces notions of whiteness from the early seventeenth century to the late nineteenth." - Contemporary Sociology

"Much has been written about the sources of racism and the wellsprings of racial conflict but few historians have shown David Roediger's sensitivity to the process by which race figured in defining the very nature of American society. The author's most important contribution is to elucidate how racial identity was critical to the formation of the working class during the nineteenth century. Roediger's central argument is most compelling." - Labour History Review

"David Roediger's fascinating and vital study will satisfy even the most jaded intellectual palate and deserves the widest circulation." - History

"The book speaks so clearly to what historians know about the American working class, but with enormous originality. Broadly accessible to a wide audience, it connects the histories of slave labor and free labor thus providing a more profound understanding of American working class formation. Theoretically sophisticated, pulling together subtle but significant connections among race, class and gender. Blindingly revealing and of lasting scholarly value." - Organization of American Historians Prize Committee on awarding Wages the 1992 Merle Curti Prize

"Praise for Class, Race, and Marxism:

David Roediger wades into the fray with refreshing nuance and generosity." - In These Times

"Praise for Class, Race, and Marxism:

Roediger's book couldn't have appeared at a more timely moment." - Brooklyn Rail

"Praise for Class, Race, and Marxism:

A scintillating compilation . Roediger's book explains exactly why even the most sickening atavisms of racism are fully compatible with the capitalist order, with ramifications into the 21st century." - Against the Current

"Praise for Class, Race, and Marxism:


Roediger addresses the challenges that class and race continue to present for U.S. radicals . should be required reading for anyone trying to understand the era of Trumpian politics. This is an important book, with lessons that some way wish to ignore, but at their peril." - Working Class Studies Association C.L.R. James Award

"Praise for Class, Race, and Marxism:

Studying, understanding, struggling against, and ultimately replacing this centuries-old, foundational, and deep societal reality remains essential, as Roediger, a consistently pathbreaking historian, makes clear in these insightful essays." - Monthly Review

"Praise for Class, Race, and Marxism:

Amid the cacophony of competing perspectives, David Roediger's Class, Race and Marxism not only expertly evaluates the historical, theoretical, and political stakes of contemporary debates on race and class, but also significantly contributes to scholarship that 'refus[es] to place race outside of the logic of capital.'" - Black Scholar Journal

"Praise for Working toward Whiteness:
Whiteness Studies can enable us to see American history in a wholly new light, and for the development of the field we must thank Roediger . . . full of thought-provoking observations." - Boston Globe