Charles Mills: Race and/as Conspiracy

Political philosopher Charles W. Mills provided us with nuanced, integral conceptions of the foundational role of race and racialization in structuring our political realities. His work was fundamentally concerned with personhood and how hegemonic power structures facilitate the denial of full personhood on the basis of race. Mills’ theorization of race and racial subjugation has implications for a wide variety of fields, including media studies. This paper specifically reflects of how his work might help us understand the social construction of race as a conspiracy, providing media scholars with a necessary perspective that allows us to more thoroughly and accurately understand the media-based information practices and behaviors of Black Americans, among other marginalized groups.