The Racial Contract Vocabulary Review

A comprehensive vocabulary set covering the core theoretical concepts, definitions, and demographics presented in the introduction and overview of Charles Mills' The Racial Contract.

White supremacy

A political system of domination by which white people have historically ruled over and continue to rule over nonwhite people, characterized by socioeconomic privilege and the differential distribution of material wealth and opportunities.

The Racial Contract

A set of formal or informal agreements between humans designated as 'white' to categorize the remaining subset of humans as 'nonwhite' and of an inferior moral status (subpersons) to maintain group privilege and exploitation.

Social contract

A theory that founds government on the popular consent of individuals taken as equals, suggesting that humans decide to establish civil society and government from an original 'state of nature.'

Epistemological contract

An agreement on cognitive norms that prescribes what counts as a correct, objective interpretation of the world and grants a person full cognitive standing in the official epistemic community.

Epistemology of ignorance

An inverted epistemology prescribed by the Racial Contract for its signatories, producing localized and global cognitive dysfunctions that prevent whites from understanding the social realities they have created.

Political contract

An account of the origins of government and political obligations, consisting of a contract to establish society and a contract to establish the state.

Moral contract

The foundation of the moral code established for a society, by which citizens are expected to regulate their behavior.

State of nature

A hypothetical prepolitical condition of human beings; in the Racial Contract, it is used to characterize nonwhite 'savages' as being in a permanently nonpolitical state.

Subpersons

A category of humans (nonwhites) assigned a different and inferior moral status and subordinate civil standing under the Racial Contract, biologically destined never to reach the 'normative rights ceiling.'

Naturalized account

A nonideal contract theory (such as Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality) that explains the actual genesis of an unjust, exploitative society and how an oppressive government comes into existence.

Whiteness

The conceptualized consent to the racial order and white supremacy that white citizens are expected to maintain as part of their civic and political responsibilities.

The Sexual Contract

A feminist work by Carole Pateman that uses a naturalistic contract approach to model the internal dynamics of male-dominated societies, serving as an inspiration for the Racial Contract theory.

White settler states

Polities established in areas where preexisting populations were already or could be made sparse by colonizers.

Sojourner colonies

Colonies characterized by the establishment of a white presence and colonial rule over existing societies that are more populous or resistant.

Great Chain of Being

The traditional moral ladder to which the Racial Contract relegates nonwhites on a lower rung as born unfree and unequal.

Contractarianism

The political lingua franca of modern times that uses the vocabulary of agreements to theorize how polities are created and what values should guide their justice.

Percentage of Black philosophers in North American universities

Approximately $1\%$ of the profession, or about $100$ people out of more than $10,000$.