The Racial Contract
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- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Charles W. Mills
- ISBN：0801484634
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Summary
The Racial Contract puts classic Western social contract theory， deadpan， to extraordinary radical use。 With a sweeping look at the European expansionism and racism of the last five hundred years， Charles W。 Mills demonstrates how this peculiar and unacknowledged "contract" has shaped a system of global European domination: how it brings into existence "whites" and "non-whites，" full persons and sub-persons， how it influences white moral theory and moral psychology; and how this system is imposed on non-whites through ideological conditioning and violence。 The Racial Contract argues that the society we live in is a continuing white supremacist state。 Holding up a mirror to mainstream philosophy， this provocative book explains the evolving outline of the racial contract from the time of the New World conquest and subsequent colonialism to the written slavery contract， to the "separate but equal" system of segregation in the United States。 According to Mills， the contract has provided the theoretical architecture justifying an entire history of European atrocity against non-whites， from David Hume's and Immanuel Kant's claims that blacks had inferior cognitive power， to the Holocaust， to the kind of imperialism in Asia that was demonstrated by the Vietnam War。 Mills suggests that the ghettoization of philosophical work on race is no accident。 This work challenges the assumption that mainstream theory is itself raceless。 Just as feminist theory has revealed orthodox political philosophy's invisible white male bias， Mills's explication of the racial contract exposes its racial underpinnings。
Reviews
Élaina Gauthier-Mamaril
，
Written using clear language， the Racial Contract articulates a convincing argument: that it should be studied alongside traditional contract theory。 It should be required reading for everyone in academia， especially for those in philosophy， regardless of rank。
Sanchita
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A fantastic structural analysis of the racial system of the US。 The proof points that Mills highlights were great and putting the racial contract in conversation with different theorists was very enlightening。
Raquel Pedro
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26/90
Alex Stephenson
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Not particularly accessible if you live outside the world of academia， and not all of Mills' points are ones I agree with， but the overarching statement here is very important， and it serves as a very useful way to frame socio-philosophic discussions in the 21st century。 Not particularly accessible if you live outside the world of academia， and not all of Mills' points are ones I agree with， but the overarching statement here is very important， and it serves as a very useful way to frame socio-philosophic discussions in the 21st century。 。。。more
Eli Weinstein
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Brilliant book， really changed my understanding。 In addition to providing a powerful model of political history and thought， it gives a way clearer explanation of what social contract theory actually is and how it works than any I was given in college classes。
Daniel Te
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I think this is a very good read for people that know enough political philosophy in the social contract tradition （i。e。 at least Locke and Hobbes， but understanding of Kant and Rousseau would also be very helpful）。 I appreciate that this work is simultaneously in dialogue with these previous authors， yet also critiquing them。 I feel like many of the anti-racist works that have come out recently forget to do this; it's hard to convince someone if you do not address the strongest arguments that h I think this is a very good read for people that know enough political philosophy in the social contract tradition （i。e。 at least Locke and Hobbes， but understanding of Kant and Rousseau would also be very helpful）。 I appreciate that this work is simultaneously in dialogue with these previous authors， yet also critiquing them。 I feel like many of the anti-racist works that have come out recently forget to do this; it's hard to convince someone if you do not address the strongest arguments that have come before。The same question I ask at the end of every book on racial topics， is， what do we do now？ I suppose this book is more theoretical， so I will give it a pass there。 In a sense， I already accepted the premise of the book， maybe because I've already done plenty of my own anti-racist reading things， so this book did not strike me as particularly mindblowing。 In this sense， I classify this book as the type to illuminate the racial contexts on a specific issue， and for the people that do not actively look at the philosophers they study with this critical lens， this is a good read。 。。。more
Reid Carpenter
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Required reading。
Sean Oh
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It’s a very dense book with a lot of complex ideas。 The author does do a good job of simplifying it but after over feeding you with so much information with regards to so many philosophical， socioeconomic， political theories。 It’s a lot to digest and requires high focus。
Colby Heiman
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Professor Mills tips over "the white marble busts in the museum of Great Western Thinkers" and exposes the idealized social and political contracts as agreements that do not accurately represent modern history。 The Racial Contract， he argues， describes our true history。 His profound analysis of the moral and political ideologies that have guided Western thought for 500 years are reexamined in the context of this Racial Contract。 Whites have upheld the "Racial Contract" through generations of una Professor Mills tips over "the white marble busts in the museum of Great Western Thinkers" and exposes the idealized social and political contracts as agreements that do not accurately represent modern history。 The Racial Contract， he argues， describes our true history。 His profound analysis of the moral and political ideologies that have guided Western thought for 500 years are reexamined in the context of this Racial Contract。 Whites have upheld the "Racial Contract" through generations of unacknowledged oppression which maintains white supremacy and secures their place as moral， post-nature citizens of the world。 Mills blasts holes in these racist theories and exposes realities that should make every white person reconsider their whiteness and deconstruct the Racial Contract in their every day lives。 。。。more
Natalie
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White Fragility rec。
Amanda Martinez
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Very academic and heady while doing an incredible job of bringing true history and hope for a future that dismantles the Racial Contract。 A great read for sure！
Melissa Lempa
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This。If we are in the Matrix， this is the red pill。 That is all， even if Goodreads demands more words。
N
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I decide to approach this controversial topic through an objective mindset。 I suppose that without pre-established prejudices I could get more out of this。 “… hardly discussed in mainstream moral and political theory， that we live in a world which has been foundational shaped for the past five hundred years by the realities of European domination and the gradual consolidation of global white supremacy。”This book is quite bold and candid about how white supremacy has permeated many aspects of soc I decide to approach this controversial topic through an objective mindset。 I suppose that without pre-established prejudices I could get more out of this。 “… hardly discussed in mainstream moral and political theory， that we live in a world which has been foundational shaped for the past five hundred years by the realities of European domination and the gradual consolidation of global white supremacy。”This book is quite bold and candid about how white supremacy has permeated many aspects of society。 For a while， I feel disillusioned， as anthropology’s/philosophy’s genesis somehow obstructs their intellectual “purity” that I pictured in my head。Sometimes I can’t help but to think about the what-ifs: what if there were other races， would the same opposition occur （the non-RACE & the RACE）？ What if， the superiority is determined through nationality or another social tag instead of ethnicity？But Mills’s aim is not to refute moral/political philosophy。 Instead， he points out the limitations。 Only by confronting them can we resolve the ingrained problems。 “To understand the actual moral practice of past and present， one needs not merely the standard abstract discussions of， say， the conflicts in people’s consciences between self-interest and empathy with others but a frank appreciation of how the Racial Contract creates a racialized moral psychology。”In brief， Mills's theory won't turn you into a raging hater。 Instead， he asks you to delve deeper and think。 。。。more
Jess Dolby
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My second read-through only deeper impressed the resonance of this book—I read it almost 15 years ago in college for a class。 As critical for this time as when it was released， it stands as a thorough critique of foundational social philosophy and the effects of racism on modern society。
Warren
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An eye-opening and cogent analysis。
Tommy
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Classic。 Necessary。
Justus
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Mills offers a "racial contract"， a variant on the "social contract" of Rosseau， that highlights the intentional and unintentional exclusion of race from virtually all political & philosophical theorizing of the past ~300 years。 I suppose not everyone will agree with Mills on his contention thatThe modern world was thus expressly created as a racially hierachical polity， globally dominated by Europeans。 Or， perhaps they'll agree but say that stopped being the case at some point in the past。 Mills Mills offers a "racial contract"， a variant on the "social contract" of Rosseau， that highlights the intentional and unintentional exclusion of race from virtually all political & philosophical theorizing of the past ~300 years。 I suppose not everyone will agree with Mills on his contention thatThe modern world was thus expressly created as a racially hierachical polity， globally dominated by Europeans。 Or， perhaps they'll agree but say that stopped being the case at some point in the past。 Mills goes on to claim thatEuropean moral and political theory， like European thought in general， developed within the framework of the Racial Contract and， as a rule， took it for granted。 I essentially agree with Mills and so， for me， much of the book seemed relatively straightforward and obvious。 I was less convinced on the need to put these historical truths within the philosophical model of a "social contract"。Morally and legally， as I stated in the beginning， the Racial Contract establishes a fundamental partition in the social ontology of the planet， which could be represented as the divide between persons and subpersons。 And yet， he does seem to make salient points about the nearly complete failure of philosophers to engage in any meaningful way with not just a world-historical fact but what was also very clearly a philosophy and way of viewing the world。 Is there really nothing they have to say about it？ Only economists and sociologists and historians have anything to say on the matter？Think of the rich colorful tapestry over the last two centuries of abolitionism， racial vindicationism， aboriginal land claims， antiimperial and anticolonial movements， antiapartheid struggle， searches to reclaim racial and cultural heritages， and ask yourself what thread of it ever appears within the bleached weave of the standard First World political philosophy text。 [。。。] One will search in vain for them in most standard histories and contemporary surveys of Western political thought。 On the other hand， it also isn't clear to me what Wills wants philosophy to do。Yes， Kant seems to have not included women & minorities in his moral framework。 But is it really that big of a change to make some slight edits to his overall ideas？ That's the kind of unresolved questions I had through most of the book。Nonwhites then find that race is， paradoxically， everywhere and nowhere， structuring their lives but not formally recognized in political/moral theory。 In the last part of the book he eventually warmed me to the idea of wrapping all this up in the metaphor of a social contract。 I'm still not completely convinced， especially because I'm not a big fan of the social contract metaphor or ideal justice theory in the first place。 But Mills makes the case that both of those things are part of mainstream philosophical thinking。My suggestion is that by looking at the actual historically dominant moral/political consciousness and the actual historically dominant moral/political ideas， we are better enabled to prescribe for society than by starting from ahistorical abstractions。 But his best explanation comes in a later essay， "The Racial Contract revisited: still unbroken after all these years" where he talks about "the value of the contract metaphor"。 In part it is a response to widely held feelings in the liberal tradition about the social contract among equal peers as a metaphor for society and in part the general dominance （and， in Mills' view， weaknesses） of Rawlsian thinking， which is another social contract metaphor。Part of my justification for wanting to hold on to the contract idea， apart from its continuity with such an influential strain within the Western political tradition， is its facilitation of a debate with Rawlsianism （albeit a “debate” with as yet no response from Rawlsians！）， which has exercised such hegemony over political philosophy over the last four decades。 I think anyone with domain expertise can recognize the need to use the jargon of the domain if you want to reach those domain experts。 In large part， Mills wanted his essay to begin a conversation within philosophy， which necessitates putting in terms of the （current dominant） argot。 I can understand that， though I'm still not convinced the social contract metaphor has much value for non-philosophers。 。。。more
Janice Feng
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Really not good。 No hermeneutical capacity。
hajduk
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Superb。
May Kosba
，
It doesn't matter what your academic or non-academic interests are， this book is a must read。 This book will help you understand how and why we live in a world ruled by white supremacy as an "unnamed political system。" Spice up your book shelf and read this one！ It doesn't matter what your academic or non-academic interests are， this book is a must read。 This book will help you understand how and why we live in a world ruled by white supremacy as an "unnamed political system。" Spice up your book shelf and read this one！ 。。。more
Christian
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Everything we know is going on just in academic languageThis was an interesting read about white supremacy’s illegitimacy normalization campaign backed up by some historical examples I forgot about: The requiriemento （SMDH）。
Madison Scott-Kerley
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I wish everyone was required to read this。 Charles Mills demonstrates a masterful command of language that made a complex subject digestible。 That being said， it was not necessarily an easy read。 It took a little work to get through， but taking notes on my thoughts and ideas as I read was helpful。 It is also not easy material to take in， I felt a great deal of emotions throughout。 However， I am extremely glad to have read this， it was simultaneously mind blowing and just made complete and utter I wish everyone was required to read this。 Charles Mills demonstrates a masterful command of language that made a complex subject digestible。 That being said， it was not necessarily an easy read。 It took a little work to get through， but taking notes on my thoughts and ideas as I read was helpful。 It is also not easy material to take in， I felt a great deal of emotions throughout。 However， I am extremely glad to have read this， it was simultaneously mind blowing and just made complete and utter sense， like puzzle pieces coming together。 。。。more
Basel
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To study the contractual works of Hobbes， Locke and Rousseau， amongst others， is a rite of passage to any philosophy students。 The social contract theory， in all of its variations， is one of the pillars of modern political philosophy。 Usually it goes as following: We imagine how humans would behave in a “state of nature”， that is a state that exists even before the existence of society while humans are just out on their own， then， for this or that reason， humans are forced to bond together in or To study the contractual works of Hobbes， Locke and Rousseau， amongst others， is a rite of passage to any philosophy students。 The social contract theory， in all of its variations， is one of the pillars of modern political philosophy。 Usually it goes as following: We imagine how humans would behave in a “state of nature”， that is a state that exists even before the existence of society while humans are just out on their own， then， for this or that reason， humans are forced to bond together in order to form society by “signing” a social contract in which they would relinquish their older state for this new state of existence。 Much of these works had， and still do have， a resounding influence until today。 For instance， we could actually joke around that it was John Locke who “invented” the USA。 The founding fathers were such huge admirers of his works that they at times copied him almost word for word。 This is when The Racial Contract by the Jamaican philosopher Charles W。 Mills takes a stand。 You see， Mills’ main thesis is that as this social contract was being constructed， another one was being forced， a racial one。 Almost all of the enlightenment philosophers spoke of liberty and equality between all。 However， as Mill tries to demonstrate， notions of “liberty” and “equality” are exclusive only to the whites。 White here isn’t just someone who has a white skin color。 But a constructed identity that negates everyone else besides by law， by the social sphere， and by the cultural sphere。 Racism， then， doesn’t just become a simple interaction between people， but it becomes a political， economic， and cultural systems that are installed。 One cannot separate the construction of the state without the construction of those above and those underneath。 Mills doesn’t pretend that racism is the only form of prejudice that exists。 He doesn’t say that every single white person racist or living a luxurious life。 He is fully aware， for instance， that class structures and gender issues do exist。 Nevertheless， if we take the example of the US。 The country was first based on white Europeans committing genocide against a whole group of people。 The once the US became independent， even though the constitution and declaration of independence spoke of “we the people”， they only referred to a certain type of people。 Slavery existed。 Even after its end， the laws didn’t really help the nonwhites。 So it took years of struggle to try and get equal legal rights， and the struggle continues。 So the entire structure of the system here， from its conception， was meant to prioritize one group over the other。 This is but one example as he discusses many other ones such the European colonialism in Asia， Africa， and even inter-white racism to show that it’s not just about skin color， but identity。 Mills doesn’t want to deconstruct the social contract。 His main aim is to show that we cannot understand the social contract as it is without understanding the racial one。 Apartheid was imposed by the whites on the blacks in South Africa。 The structure of the state here is crucial as it completely transforms the space where the blacks and non-blacks， whites and nonwhites live， and the manner by which they live/lived。 The racial contract helps us understand why the social contract was constructed as it is。 This is a very interesting book。 It’s especially interesting to those interested in political philosophy， social contract theories， and race studies。 I just wish it was a bit longer and more in depth。 Yet it was very elegantly written and very accessible to anyone new to this domain。 。。。more
juulia
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4。25 stars
Ollie Lush
，
everyone should read this book**
Graeme
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I'd recommend anyone interested in the theoretical grounding of critical race theory read Charles Mills' Racial Contract as it eloquently lays out the case for theorizing about white supremacy as a political system of domination。 However， I was not entirely persuaded by Mills' critique of the hypothetical contractualist tradition as he asserts rather than argues that it is by understanding the actual operations of the nonideal world that we come to understand how to transform it to make it more I'd recommend anyone interested in the theoretical grounding of critical race theory read Charles Mills' Racial Contract as it eloquently lays out the case for theorizing about white supremacy as a political system of domination。 However， I was not entirely persuaded by Mills' critique of the hypothetical contractualist tradition as he asserts rather than argues that it is by understanding the actual operations of the nonideal world that we come to understand how to transform it to make it more just， ethical etc。 I don't disagree that we need to consider the actual operations of the world in considering whether the actual world is just， but I am not convinced that we need to be examining the actual operation of the world to generate principles of justice。 Instead， I would defend some form of reflective equilibrium in which we have certain abstract moral intuitions that need to be tested against concrete reality， but are not necessarily generated from an in depth consideration of the concrete world。 As a case in point， Mills' points to the damage that is done to nonwhites by the internalization of the negative picture of the nonwhite other by nonwhites。 However， from a Rawlsian， hypothetical contractualist perspective I can make sense of this as a failure in the distribution of the primary good of the social bases of self-respect。 Clearly， in actual existing liberal democracies this good is not adequately distributed according to Rawlsian principles of justice， but I did not need the theoretical device of the Racial Contract for this， I just need to check the abstract principles of justice against empirical evidence。 So， Rawlsian liberals need not be blind to this racialized inequality even while maintaining an abstract， raceless hypothetical contractualism。 。。。more
Koleś
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Two quotes that I found especially interesting， throughout the book。 First about how white people might perceive black people's bodies， because they are not used to them:the black body in particular is seen as paradigmatically _a body_。 Lewis Gordon suggests that the black "presence is a form of absence。。。。 Every black person becomes a limb of an enormous black body: THE BLACK BODY"。 Whites may get to be "talking heads，" but even when blacks' heads are talking， one is always uncomfortably aware Two quotes that I found especially interesting， throughout the book。 First about how white people might perceive black people's bodies， because they are not used to them:the black body in particular is seen as paradigmatically _a body_。 Lewis Gordon suggests that the black "presence is a form of absence。。。。 Every black person becomes a limb of an enormous black body: THE BLACK BODY"。 Whites may get to be "talking heads，" but even when blacks' heads are talking， one is always uncomfortably aware of the bodies to which these heads are attached。 （So blacks are at best "talking bodies。"） and second， how people were able to do bad things because of racism and think that it was the good thing to do:How were people able consistently to do the wrong thing while thinking that they were doing the right thing？ In part， it is a problem of cognition and of white moral cognitive dysfunction 。。。more
Axel
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Very enlightening， but also a bit of a challenge in the vocabulary department。 I recommend this to anyone curious about race in social and political spheres。
Veronica Emily
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Inspiring
Anna Juline
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Honestly should be required reading everywhere！
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Racial Contract
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Racial Contract&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Racial Contract&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0