In pursuit of racial equality: The political economy of Rhonda M. Williams

This article summarizes and discusses the political economy of the late Rhonda M. Williams by clustering her contributions into three major areas: (1) an evolving and compelling critique of the human capital theory of wages and wage differentials; (2) development of a new, political economy theory of wage-setting and earnings discrimination; and (3) analyses of the effects of the macro-economy and socioeconomic policies on racial, ethnic, and gender inequality. While Williams never wanted to leave out class or gender, her main intellectual engagement was with the economics of race. Her work tells us that race matters in the economy.