I have now reread about 1/3 of The Racial Contract by Charles Mills, the last major work to be assigned in my course next semester, and my long standing impression is confirmed that it is the most important work of political theory to appear in English in more than a century – and yes that includes A Theory of Justice and even (hem, hem) my own In Defense of Anarchism. It is an extraordinary book and, remarkable in the literature of political theory, true.
This exercise in rereading has been a delight for me and I
am looking forward with great enthusiasm to the opportunity to teach the course
next semester (assuming that I can climb the steep flight of stairs to the
second floor of Caldwell Hall where it meets.) I am going to have to warn the
students that it will be an extremely difficult course but I make no apologies
for that. This course would do well in any graduate program in America.
Racial.....
ReplyDeleteMore important than Marcuse's Eros and Civilization and One Dimensional Man, which also first appeared in English?
ReplyDeleteYes, more important than those books, much as I love them.
ReplyDeleteThanks. One point about Marcuse being important is that his books are read and have influenced thinkers outside the U.S., while I would imagine that Mills' work is mainly relevant within the context of U.S. political thought and life. I've noticed in my local bookstore that some of Marcuse's works are still in print in Spanish and can be found in the shelves of a middle-sized "intellectually oriented" bookstore in Santiago de Chile, which indicates how influential he was and still is.
ReplyDeleteOf possible interest:
ReplyDeletehttps://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.931.7316&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Unfortunately Cole’s response does not seem to be readily available on line.
http://charleswmills.com/content/Mills_The%20RacialContractrevisited.pdf
"I am going to have to warn the students that it will be an extremely difficult course but I make no apologies for that."
ReplyDeleteI remember one professor who specifically warned me that his course (Chinese History) would be extremely difficult and that he did not think I would be a suitable student and pretty apparently did not want me in his class. Pissed me off enough to get an A in the course. And a nice note from the professor.
Re the "steep flight of stairs" -- Is UNC exempt from ADA requirements? No elevators available?
ReplyDeleteProfessor Wolff warned me not to take his Political Philosophy graduate course when I was a Junior undergraduate transferring from a community college. I was insulted and ignored him. Alas, he was right-I was overwhelmed by the material, which I was just being introduced to.I did better when I later took his undergraduate level course. (My writing was not up to tackling a critique of Nozick.)
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