Lecture 10 Pateman and Mills

Question 1

What are the key critiques of the social contract according to Pateman and Mills?

Answer 1

The social contract excludes women and non-white individuals, legitimizing patriarchy (Pateman) and white supremacy (Mills).

Question 2

Who is Carole Pateman, and what are her contributions?

Answer 2

Pateman is a feminist political theorist who critiques liberalism for sustaining patriarchal oppression in works like The Sexual Contract (1988).

Question 3

What is the ‘sexual contract’ according to Pateman?

Answer 3

The sexual contract legitimizes male political and sexual control over women, subordinating them in public and private spheres.

Question 4

What examples illustrate the sexual contract today?

Answer 4

Examples include unequal domestic labor expectations, gender pay gaps, and restrictions on reproductive rights.

Question 5

Who is Charles Mills, and what are his contributions?

Answer 5

Mills was a philosopher who introduced The Racial Contract (1997), analyzing the implicit agreement among whites to maintain racial hierarchies.

Question 6

What is Mills’ ‘racial contract’?

Answer 6

The racial contract explains how societies prioritize whites as fully human and subordinate non-whites as ‘subpersons.’

Question 7

What are the three subcontracts within the racial contract?

Answer 7

The expropriation contract (land theft), the slavery contract (forced labor), and the colonial contract (imperial dominance).

Question 8

How does the racial contract operate epistemologically?

Answer 8

It shapes knowledge systems, defining who is considered knowledgeable and distorting reality through ‘white ignorance.’

Question 9

What historical examples reflect the racial contract?

Answer 9

Examples include colonial land appropriation, the transatlantic slave trade, and Jim Crow laws.

Question 10

How do liberalism and the Enlightenment connect to the racial and sexual contracts?

Answer 10

Liberalism and the Enlightenment embed exclusions, as seen in Locke’s labor theory justifying colonialism and Kant’s racial hierarchies.

Question 11

What criticisms are directed at Kant in Mills’ work?

Answer 11

Kant’s explicit racism divided humanity into ‘persons’ and ‘subpersons,’ influencing ideas of racial superiority.

Question 12

What ongoing effects of the racial contract exist today?

Answer 12

Today, it manifests in systemic racial inequalities, segregation, and disproportionate access to resources.

Question 13

What is ‘white ignorance’ according to Mills?

Answer 13

‘White ignorance’ is a systemic denial or distortion of realities that maintain white privilege.

Question 14

What are Mills’ and Pateman’s perspectives on reforming the contracts?

Answer 14

Pateman sees contracts as inherently flawed, while Mills suggests careful reform to ‘liberalize illiberal liberalism.’

Question 15

How does Mills critique ideal theory?

Answer 15

Mills critiques ideal theory for ignoring race, reinforcing the racial contract by excluding historical realities.

Question 16

What are the dimensions of Mills’ racial contract?

Answer 16

The dimensions are political, moral, and epistemological, shaping laws, ethics, and knowledge systems.

Question 17

What is the epistemological contract in Mills’ theory?

Answer 17

The epistemological contract dictates cognitive norms, marginalizing non-white perspectives and privileging white frameworks.

Question 18

How do the political and moral contracts function in the racial contract?

Answer 18

The political contract establishes governance, while the moral contract justifies racial hierarchies.

Question 19

What are examples of the racial contract in present-day society?

Answer 19

Examples include global economic disparities, racial profiling, and biased algorithms.

Question 20

What are examples of the sexual contract in modern society?

Answer 20

Examples include unequal caregiving expectations, glass ceilings, and restrictive reproductive policies.

Question 21

How do Pateman and Mills differ in their critiques of liberalism?

Answer 21

Pateman focuses on patriarchy’s public and private aspects, while Mills critiques systemic racial domination.

Question 22

What criticisms are directed at Pateman’s and Mills’ frameworks?

Answer 22

Criticisms include potential oversimplifications and insufficient acknowledgment of intersectionality.

Question 23

How feasible is Mills’ careful optimism about reforming liberalism?

Answer 23

Mills’ optimism depends on reforming liberalism’s structures, which critics argue may not sufficiently address systemic inequalities.

Question 24

How does Pateman’s critique of patriarchy compare with Mills’ critique of racism?

Answer 24

Pateman critiques private domination of women, while Mills critiques public racial hierarchies.

Question 25

How do the racial and sexual contracts link to classic social contract theories like Hobbes and Locke?

Answer 25

Hobbes and Locke’s theories set the foundation for exclusionary practices critiqued by Pateman and Mills.