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Just re-read Charles W. Mills’ “The Racial Contract.” I first read it 15 years ago and it's better than I remembered. I’m struck by how much of Mills’ critique of philosophy applies to economics. I've also been in a rethinking economics mood thx to #rethinkeconfestival2020 1/10
First there’s the retreat into a fantasy-land of pure abstraction that gives both disciplines an “otherworldliness.” For philosophy there’s the mythical “state of nature” while for economists it’s “perfect competition.” 2/10
Mills describes it acerbically as “black political theory’s ghettoization from mainstream discussion, white mainstream theory’s ghettoization from reality.” Both disciplines refuse to confront the history of white supremacy, of centuries of genocide, slavery and colonialism. 3/10
The other major parallel is the inversion of norm and deviation. White political philosophers assume adherence to liberal ideals is the norm, while racist oppression is an unfortunate deviation from Enlightenment values that has been corrected. 4/10
In reality, racism has been the norm, and equal treatment the exception. It reminds me of that Gandhi’s famous quip when asked what he thought of European civilization: “I think it would be a good idea.” 5/10
Or think of Keynes insisting that his was “The General Theory” and the neoclassical theory of self-regulating markets the special case. While the New Classical revolution of Friedman and Lucas re-established the traditional order, relegating Keynes to crisis management 6/10
when some “exogenous shock” disrupts the normal workings of the invisible hand. Or heterodox economists insisting that economic relationships are characterized by violence and exploitation while most economists only consider a world of “voluntary exchanges for mutual gain.” 7/10
Finally, there’s the demographics of economics and philosophy and the “epistemology of ignorance” it fosters, BIPOC scholars are a tiny minority and racist myths are widely accepted by mainstream. In economics it’s crap like statistical discrimination 8/10 https://twitter.com/wspriggs/status/1270702089228992514?lang=en
Or the “acting white” myth. We have to assert our basic humanity and teach ourselves the other side of the story. No racial discrimination is never justified even if its based on “solid” data on group averages and no our culture is not deficient. 9/10 https://bit.ly/32UOkXx
Mills argues that our presence in academic spaces is a threat because “we know where the bodies are buried” and are a walking reminder of these inconvenient truths. Which is why we must diversify and decolonize economics @DivDecEcon @SadieCollective 10/10
