New Books in Critical Theory Alana Lentin, "The New Racial Regime: Recalibrations of White Supremacy" (Pluto Books, 2025)
May 4, 2026
Alana Lentin, Professor of Cultural and Social Analysis and scholar-activist on race and anti-racism. She discusses the backlash against critical race ideas and how it polices education and dissent. She traces the Black radical tradition and Cedric Robinson’s influence. She examines limits of liberal anti-racism, the repurposing of DEI and anti-hate politics, and the politics of historical memory.
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War On Critical Race Theory Is A Tactical Distraction
- The war on critical race theory is a focalized tactic to disrupt broader anti-racist movements.
- Alana Lentin shows Trump-era attacks framed CRT as a catch-all to protect a narrative of white innocence and block systemic change.
CRT Needs Black Radical And Indigenous Grounding
- Critical Race Theory emerged from U.S. critical legal studies and has limits when applied globally without engaging colonialism and land.
- Lentin urges pairing CRT with Black radical and Indigenous perspectives to avoid reformist, institution-focused fixes.
Use Intersectionality To Reconnect Race And Class
- Reclaim intersectionality's political roots by emphasising class and structural power, not identity checklists.
- Lentin recommends returning to Black communist women and earlier organizer scholarship to restore articulation of race and class.
