First Advisor

Melina Martinez

Date of Award

Spring 6-6-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Political Science and University Honors

Department

Politics and Global Affairs

Language

English

Subjects

racial capitalism, Legal Power, Gendered Racial Hierarchy, Austin Turk, Critical Race Theory, Sociolegal Analysis

DOI

10.15760/honors.1680

Abstract

This paper analyzes how law operates as a structuring force within racial capitalism by applying Austin Turk's "law as power" framework. It explores how legal institutions not only reflect but actively reproduce racial and gender hierarchies through their functions. Drawing from foundational work by Cedric Robinson, W.E.B. Du Bois, Angela Harris, Kimberlé Crenshaw, and others, this paper defines racial capitalism as a system in which economic exploitation is inseparable from racial and gender domination. The first section contextualizes the emergence of racial capitalism and its intersection with gender, emphasizing how bodies are commodified and governed through legal regimes. The core analysis maps Turk's five forms of legal power: police/violence, political, economic, ideological, and diversionary, onto case studies, policies, and legal doctrines. From prison systems to affirmative action discourse and civil court structures, the paper demonstrates how law sustains systems of expropriation and legitimizes inequality under the guise of neutrality. By bridging sociolegal theory and critical race scholarship, the work promotes questioning the presumed objectivity of legal institutions and highlights the importance of law in codifying the logic of capital. Ultimately, the paper showcases research that works to confront the racial capitalist order, and how legal scholars must reframe law not as an impartial arbiter but as an instrument of power shaped by historical and material forces.

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Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/43779

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