<p>Combining classical Marxism, psychoanalysis, and the new labor historypioneered by E. P. Thompson and Herbert Gutman, David Roediger's widelyacclaimed book provides an original study of the formative years ofworking-class racism in the United States. This, he argues, cannot be explainedsimply with reference to economic advantage; rather, white working-class racismis underpinned by a complex series of psychological and ideological mechanismsthat reinforce racial stereotypes, and thus help to forge the identities ofwhite workers in opposition to Blacks.</p><p>In a new preface, Roediger reflects on the reception, influence, andcritical response to <em>The Wages of Whiteness</em>, while Kathleen Cleaver'sinsightful introduction hails the importance of a work that has become aclassic.</p>