Volume 25, Issue 2, 2022
Gregory Slack

Pages 277-292
https://doi.org/10.5840/radphilrev20221118131
Charles W. Mills
Black Radical Liberalism or Black Marxism?
Here I both celebrate and critique the legacy of Charles W. Mills. I begin by offering some reflections on the trajectory of Mills¡¯s career and intellectual development, focusing on his move from Marxist philosophy to the philosophy of race. I then attempt to undermine an argument in Mills¡¯s final book, for why those interested in emancipation should choose liberalism over Marxism. By contrasting Mills with the late Italian Marxist philosopher of history Domenico Losurdo, with whom Mills shared a blistering critique of ¡®racial¡¯ liberalism but whom I claim Mills misread, I seek to weaken key premises in Mills¡¯s argument.