“Rethinking Tocqueville: White democracy or American democracy?”

Abstract

This piece makes two points about “Tocqueville: From America to Algeria.” First, while Bhambra and Holmwood rightly criticize the editorial practice of omitting the “Three Races” chapter from Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, this critique does not go far enough. Even in its unabridged form, Democracy in America is structured to include an extension discussion on race and colonialism while also obscuring its significance. Second, the authors’ critique of Tocqueville’s inability to imagine how Black Americans as free and equal could be included into a system of racialized possession as equals is misplaced.