Read more Published in 1997 in the United States, "The Racial Contract", a major book by the philosopher Charles Mills, has just been published for the first time in French. It exposes the flaws in the social contract that he describes as the racial contract: a contract that makes the white person exist as a person and the non-white person as a sub-person. The French edition benefits from a preface by the author on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the publication of this essay, which is now required reading in philosophy and political science courses in the United States. We went to ask Lilian Thuram to tell us what this reading brought her.
Making critical theory accessibleWhile the publication in French of this essential critical work in the English-speaking world is obviously welcome news, the translation delay raises questions for Lilian Thuram. Why was it allowed 25 years before this work was made accessible to French-speaking readers?
“When I hear about the “Racial Contract” it allows me to understand everything I have experienced in my life, everything I still experience as a black man.” Lilian Thuram
Very accessible, this book challenges the common idea that talking about racism is a complicated thing. Beyond what Charles Mills brings to understand the racist problem, his analyses allow us to question the way in which the modern world was built. The idea that Mills leads us towards is simple: history has built groups identified according to their skin color and since then, we have learned to think of ourselves from this belonging, from this point of view.
Unmasking our unthoughts“The modern world in which we live is built on racialization, on the idea that the white race would be superior and the others inferior.” Lilian Thuram
Examples of this racial thinking are numerous: to speak of sub-Saharan Africa is to divide Africa along racial lines; to speak of the “discovery of America” by Christopher Columbus is to deny the precedence of indigenous populations.
“Things, lands exist from the moment the European world arrives. I think that today we are in a historical sequence and that we must become aware that effectively, unconsciously, we are taking up these patterns of domination.” Lilian Thuram
Legitimizing speaking outTherefore, if racial thinking does not belong to history, if it has extensions, consequences in our current societies, we should manage to operate a critical and reflexive turning point on these questions. This begins with work aimed at deconstructing the idea that the debate is impossible, too complex or too sensitive. Lilian Thuram reminds us that history bears witness to the fact that those who excite these debates are those who do not want to listen, and a fortiori who do not want things to change.
“We are stirring up debate to delegitimize the voices of people who are suffering in a society that wants more equality.” Lilian Thuram
The electrification of the debate is therefore part of the same strategy of domination, the same way of renewing and defending white supremacy and the comfort of a way of thinking that would like light to come from the European world.
59 min
News: - The Racial Contract, by Charles Mills, is published by Mémoires d'encrier, translated from English by Aly Ndiaye (alias Webster) and augmented with an unpublished preface by the author.
– La pensée blanche, by Lilian Thuram is still available from Philippe Rey editions.
Published in 1997 in the United States, "The Racial Contract", a major book by the philosopher Charles Mills, has just been published for the first time in French. It exposes the flaws in the social contract that he describes as the racial contract: a contract that makes the white person exist as a person and the non-white person as a sub-person. The French edition benefits from a preface by the author on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the publication of this essay, which is now required reading in philosophy and political science courses in the United States. We went to ask Lilian Thuram to tell us what this reading brought her.
Making critical theory accessible
While the publication in French of this essential critical work in the English-speaking world is obviously welcome news, the translation delay raises questions for Lilian Thuram. Why was it left until 25 years before this work was made available to French-speaking readers?
“When I hear about the ‘Racial Contract’ it helps me understand everything I’ve experienced in my life, everything I still experience as a black man.” Lilian Thuram
Very accessible, this book challenges the common idea that talking about racism is a complicated thing. Beyond what Charles Mills brings to understand the racist problem, his analyses allow us to question the way in which the modern world was built. The idea that Mills leads us towards is simple: history has built groups identified according to their skin color and since then, we have learned to think of ourselves from this belonging, from this point of view.
Unmasking our unthoughts
“The modern world we live in is built on racialization, on the idea that the white race is superior and the others inferior.. " Lilian Thuram
Examples of this racial thinking are numerous: to speak of sub-Saharan Africa is to divide Africa along racial lines; to speak of the “discovery of America” by Christopher Columbus is to deny the precedence of indigenous populations.
“Things, lands exist from the moment the European world arrives. I think that today we are in a historical sequence and that we must become aware that effectively, unconsciously, we are taking up these patterns of domination.” Lilian Thuram
Legitimize speaking out
Therefore, if racial thinking does not belong to history, if it has extensions, consequences in our current societies, we should manage to operate a critical and reflexive turning point on these questions. This begins with work aimed at deconstructing the idea that the debate is impossible, too complex or too sensitive. Lilian Thuram reminds us that history bears witness to the fact that those who excite these debates are those who do not want to listen, and a fortiori who do not want things to change.
“We are stirring up debate to delegitimize the voices of people who are suffering in a society that wants more equality.” Lilian Thuram
The electrification of the debate is therefore part of the same strategy of domination, the same way of renewing and defending white supremacy and the comfort of a way of thinking that would like light to come from the European world.
59 min
News:
The Racial Contract, by Charles Mills, appears in Inkwell Memories editions, translated from English by Aly Ndiaye (alias Webster) and augmented with an unpublished preface by the author.
White thought, by Lilian Thuram is still available at Philippe Rey editions.
"This post is a summary of information from our information monitoring"
