The Racial Contract

In this book, Charles W. Mills argues that the social contract theories of philosophers like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Immanuel Kant were not race-neutral but rather were designed to regulate relations among whites while justifying the oppression and exploitation of non-whites.

Mills contends that this 'Racial Contract' has been a central feature of Western political theory and practice, shaping a system of global European domination and maintaining white supremacy.

He proposes a non-ideal theory to expose the inequities of this system and to connect mainstream political philosophy with the political thought of marginalized groups.