"Unusual returns": Transnational whiteness and the dividends of empire.

This article examines the concept of the "public and psychological wage" as developed by W.E.B. Du Bois and its relevance to theories of racial capitalism. It argues that the wages of whiteness played a crucial role in the rise of industrial capitalism in the United States by compensating white laborers and suppressing wages for black laborers. The article also explores the idea of transnational whiteness and how it hindered global working-class solidarity. It concludes by discussing the role of financial logics in Du Bois's transnational democratic thought and its implications for industrial democracy. The text further explores the relationship between imperialism, race, and economics, particularly in the context of the United States. It suggests that imperialism stabilized domestic class relations by exporting labor exploitation to colonies, resulting in a paradox of "democratic despotism" where imperialism and liberal democracy were intertwined. The text also highlights the dividends of empire, which provided economic and psychological benefits to white laboring classes but limited the scope of democracy and hindered cross-racial working-class solidarity. It concludes by examining the concept of transnational whiteness and its connection to imperialism and colonial exploitation. Additionally, the text delves into the concept of "the dividends of empire" as theorized by W.E.B. Du Bois. It argues that white workers in European imperial powers benefited from colonial exploitation through economic and affective dividends, such as higher wages and a sense of white prestige. These dividends were tied to the racial division of [Extracted from the article]