Abstract
In this paper, I propose and use a new understanding of two key concepts in historical studies on racism and black social movements in the Americas - racialization and racial formation - by examining them in the light of the theories of social classes and the formation of social groups in general. My starting point is that these concepts can not be operated on the analysis of historical processes but concomitantly with concrete analyzes of national and classes formations. I take the modern and contemporary Brazil to empirically exam the historical processes that can empirically substantiate my conceptual proposal.
Keywords:
Social classes; Racialization; Racial formation; National formation