IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envirc/v43y2025i2p283-287.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reimagining the unimagined subjects of racial capitalism

Author

Listed:
  • Marques Vestal

Abstract

Marxian and Foucauldian models of power fail to fully imagine all subjects of domination, in particular, water. In this commentary, I use a brief historical sketch of turn twentieth-century Skid Row in Los Angeles, California to reveal the possible hidden history obscured by our assessment of “neglected†land. This commentary explores how the flow of water and water infrastructure influenced the trajectory of private land enclosure. I argue that historic water flows of the Los Angeles River and the prior construction of communal water irrigation infrastructure provided the opportunity for the accumulation of communal land use, attenuating the total enclosure of private property as an urban subdivision. The sketch calls on critical housing studies scholars to reimagine the possible unimagined subjects of racial capitalism.

Suggested Citation

  • Marques Vestal, 2025. "Reimagining the unimagined subjects of racial capitalism," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 43(2), pages 283-287, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:43:y:2025:i:2:p:283-287
    DOI: 10.1177/23996544241298754
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23996544241298754
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/23996544241298754?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:43:y:2025:i:2:p:283-287. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.