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Question

Definitions of Oppression

Answer 1

In the most general sense, all oppressed people suffer some inhibition of their ability to develop and exercise their capacities and express their needs, thoughts, and feelings.’

Answer 2

Racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia, transphobia, colonialism, ableism - Systemic, directional power relationships among social identity groups, in which one group benefits at the expense of other groups (Adams, Bell, & Griffin, 2007) - multiple, interlocking and have complex, not additive, interactions (Crenshaw in Shlasko, 2015, p.350)

Answer 3

identifies the scales at which oppression operates: * among individuals * embedded in institutions, and * permeating cultures

Answer 4

Her definition comes out of ‘its use by new social movements in the United States’ since 1960s - ‘My starting point is reflection on the conditions of the groups said by these movements to be oppressed: among others women, Blacks, Chicanos, Puerto Ricans and other Spanish speaking Americans, American Indians, Jews, lesbians, gay men, Arabs, Asians, old people, working-class people, and the physically and mentally disabled.’ - ‘aim to systematize the meaning of the concept of oppression as used by these diverse political movements, and to provide normative argument to clarify the wrongs the term names.’

Answer 5

- Group differentiation and diversity are not oppressive in themselves. - Whether a group is oppressed, and its members experience injustice, depends on whether they are subjected to one or more of the following conditions:  Exploitation;  Marginalisation;  Powerlessness;  Cultural imperialism;  Violence. (Young 1990, pp.47-48)

Answer 6

- Capitalist societies promote a belief in the freedom and equality of all persons ... - However, ‘Some people exercise their capacities under the control, according to the purposes, and for the benefit of other people ...’ ‘Not only are powers transferred from workers to capitalists, but ....Workers suffer material deprivation and a loss of control, and hence are deprived of important elements of self respect’ Exploitation enacts a structural relation between social groups So long as long as institutionalised practices and structural relations remain unaltered, the injustices of exploitation cannot be eliminated by redistribution of goods.

Answer 7

- The injustice of class division does not consist only in the fact that some people have great wealth while most people have little. It also lies in social rules concerning work in modern societies. - Social rules about –  What work is,  Who does what for whom,  How work is compensated, and so on ... - ...enact relations of power and inequality. E.g. Gender exploitation: unpaid reproductive and invisible labour; Racialised oppression/exploitation of migrant workers

Answer 8

 Increasingly ... oppression occurs in the form of marginalisation rather than exploitation.  Marginals are people the system of labour cannot or will not use ...People on the margins of society are often there due to their race, cultural background but also age, sexual and/or gender diversity, single mothers, people with disabilities.  Marginalisation is perhaps the most dangerous form of oppression.  A whole category of people is expelled from useful participation in social life and thus –  Potentially subjected to severe material deprivation and deprivation of conditions for exercising capacity (Young 1990, p.53)

Answer 9

- Powerlessness means being situated such as to –  Not regularly participate in making decisions that affect your life and actions  Lacking autonomy  Take orders and rarely having the right to give them ...  Enjoy little opportunity to develop and exercise skills ... The powerless have little cultural capital (‘respectability; – Young) The state of powerless is perhaps best described negatively: Powerless means lacking authority, status and sense of self worth. (Young 1990, p.57) Powerlessness in terms of misframing.

Answer 10

To experience cultural imperialism means to experience how –  The dominant discourses and practices in a society render the particular perspective of one’s own group invisible  At the same time as they stereotype one’s group and mark it out as Other. The culturally dominated ... are both marked out by stereotypes and rendered invisible. These stereotypes –  Are often attached in some way to people’s bodies, and which thus cannot easily be denied ...  So permeate the society that they do not seem contestable ...  Those living under cultural imperialism find themselves defined from the outside. (Young 1990, p.59) E.g. Muslim cultures in Western Society

Answer 11

Violence can be defined as –  Any relation, process, or condition that violates the physical, social and/or psychological integrity of a particular person or group. -At the personal level, violence is relatively easy to detect and control because –  It usually involves direct action in which the act of violence and its consequences are observable ... -At the structural level, violence is a complex and higher-order phenomenon.  It is a feature of social structures and social institutions. -The social processes, relations, and practices associated with structural injustices –  Often span generations;  Are deeply engrained in people and dominate everyday living

Answer 12

Covert structural oppression can be found in all the major areas of an individual’s life in Western democratic nations ... - [Members of] oppressed groups generally will suffer directly from –  Lack of adequate employment,  Low income and poverty,  Inadequate housing,  Discrimination in the retail market,  Lack of educational opportunities,  Inferior health care, and  An over-representation within the criminal justice system. These inequities are part of structural violence in that people who experience them in turn suffer from – - Disproportionate levels and incidences of stress, anguish, frustration, alienation, exclusion, all of which can, in turn, result in – - Differential rates of mortality, morbidity, incarceration, homicide, suicide and infant mortality.

Answer 13

 Social injustices and oppression are the outcome of different levels of power between groups  Social injustices and oppression would not disappear simply as a result of disregarding difference and of regarding ourselves and one another as “the same”;  ‘Social justice requires not the melting away of differences, but institutions that promote reproduction of and respect for group differences without oppression.’  ‘Oppression has often been perpetrated by a conceptualization of group difference in terms of unalterable essential natures that determine what group members deserve or are capable of, and that exclude groups so entirely from one another that they have no similarities or overlapping attributes. To assert that it is possible to have social group difference without oppression, it is necessary to conceptualize groups in a much more relational and fluid fashion.’ (Young, 1990, 12)

Answer 14

A ‘political project’ is then to persuade people that oppression is central to social injustice and ‘that the discourse of oppression makes sense of our social experience

Answer 15

‘For each oppressed group there is a corresponding group that is privileged in relation to that group and generally benefits in tangible ways from the presence of oppression.’ (Young, 1990) - We cannot address oppression without addressing privilege. - Practice – Critical Self Reflection

Answer 16

Diane J. Goodman

Answer 17

a) Normalcy b) Superiority c) Cultural and institutional power and domination d) Privilege systems/systemic advantages

Answer 18

a) Lack of consciousness b) Denial and avoidance of oppression c) Sense of superiority and entitlement d) (Multiple identities & experiences of privilege see Intersectionality) e) Resistance to seeing oneself as privileged

Answer 19

‘The invisible advantage and resultant unearned, unasked for benefits afforded to dominant groups of people because of a variety of sociodemographic traits.’ * Privileged groups create “systems and structures that reflect [their] values, embody [their] charac teristics, and advance [their] interests”; * ‘Unequal power systems are sustained by shaping people's worldviews, controlling resources, and constraining opportunities.

Answer 20

White, Christian, middle-class, heterosexual norms pervade our culture’ (Goodman, 2011)

Answer 21

(schools, workplace, family, cultural representations, beauty, media, bureaucracy)

Answer 22

‘Dominant cultural and societal norms are based on the characteristics of ... privileged group[s]’ ‘Dominant group[s] become points of reference against which other groups are judged’ i.e. dominant groups set standards of normalcy. These ‘standards of normalcy’ are ‘used to define what is good and right’. ‘These cultural norms become institutionalised and establish policy and practice’. - ‘We often become aware of the norms when we are exposed to the reverse or an exception.’ - ‘We tend to indicate the identity of individuals only when they are not what we consider the norm, otherwise their social identity is assumed and unnamed.’ - A group that is part of the norm ‘tends to get seen and see themselves as “objective” and “neutral”; it is the others who have biases and agendas. - ‘Normalcy gets internalised.’

Answer 23

‘Differences get converted into better/worse’, or superior/inferior, ‘with the attributes of the dominant groups the winners.’ This sense of superiority of dominant groups influences how people are viewed and treated. disadvantaged groups are ‘generally labelled as substandard or aberrant’, Individuals members seen as ‘less capable, with innate defects or deficiencies.’ This world view then allows privileged groups ‘to rationalise the systemically unfair treatment of people from oppressed groups and to feel entitled to power and privilege.’

Answer 24

If … oppression involves unequal social power T Domination means the ability for some social groups to systematically subjugate, control, manipulate and use other people for their own ends. Social power and domination are created and maintained through interpersonal, institutional and cultural forces. Public policies AND institutional practices AND individual attitudes help create and maintain regimes of social injustice. ‘A structural perspective on inequality recognizes the role of public policies and institutional practices, not simply individual attitudes, in developing and perpetuating societal inequality. People are increasingly using the term “White supremacy”, not to refer to racial extremists, but to describe how notions of White superiority are embedded in our institutions and ideology.’

Answer 25

“When privileged groups have greater institutional power, it allows them to establish policies and procedures that can provide, deny or limit opportunities and access to resources and social power.’

Answer 26

Systems of advantage: ‘Bestow on members of privileged groups greater access to power, resources and opportunities that are denied to others and usually gained at their expense.’ Privilege systems: Unearned ‘benefits or advantages systematically afforded to people simply because of their group membership.’ Privileges can be both material and psychological; Oppression is maintained both by increasing privileges for some and by disadvantaging others. Distinguish unearned privileges or advantages that Should be a right; from those that Reinforce present hierarchies.

Answer 27

People from privileged groups generally do not think about their dominant group identities: People from privileged groups tend to have little awareness of – Their own dominant identity, The privileges it affords them, The oppressions suffered by Others/the corresponding disadvantaged groups, and – Their contribution to perpetuating it. It is because of the unequal power relations that define relationships between members of dominant and oppressed groups that – Members of dominant groups are often deprived of feedback about their behaviour from members subordinate groups. Privilege to remain innocent/ Wilful Innocents “privileged irresponsibility” (Tronto, 1993) Because privileges are things we usually take for granted, members of privileged groups tend to – See themselves as individuals, not as part of a group that has social power and privilege; See themselves as either succeeding or failing on account of merit, rather than on account of systemic advantages; Be unaware of how their privileges are tied to the oppression of others; Do not realise that something is a privilege until they compare it with the experiences of disadvantaged groups; The ability to deny that privilege exist is an integral part of privilege itself (Johnson, 2005).

Answer 28

Wilful innocence: There is a fine line between – Recognising that some privileges may be less obvious and therefore easy to overlook and choosing not to see or look out form them; Lacking an awareness of the extent of social injustice and deciding not to acknowledge it. Because privileges tend to be to their advantage AND attached to membership in socially powerful and dominant groups, it is easy to – Claim that if something isn’t an issue from their perspective, then it isn’t an issue at all; Claim “rotten apples” rather than structural, institutional problems; Particularly insidious about the privilege/oppression dynamic is that members of privileged groups– Can choose to remain silent; Tend to benefit from remaining silent; Can be victimised for speaking or acting out against social injustices.

Answer 29

Being part of the norm/member of a dominant group/beneficiary of (invisible) privileges can leads to a sense of superiority and entitlement or internalised superiority/domination, including the following: A feeling that exceeds a healthy self-esteem or comfort with one’s own identity; An expectation that one’s needs are met – even if this is at the expense of others; This sense of superiority often becomes evident when people from an advantaged group encounter someone from a disadvantaged group in a position of expertise or authority over them.

Answer 30

It can be very difficult and discomforting to think about oneself as privileged: The terms privilege, superiority and domination have negative connotations; It is hard to accept being privileged when one is unaware of one’s privileges or feels they have been earned; Even members of dominant groups often don’t feel privileged; Experiences of privilege/disadvantage are relative; Members of privileged groups have learnt to seem themselves as individuals, rather than the members of particular groups; There may be feelings of disadvantage and resentment about affirmative action policies; Intersectionality is real: Not all people in particular advantaged groups are similarly situated; People tend to focus on their subordinated identities

Answer 31

Earlier theories of oppression – single strand and parallel Intersectionality is the study of the intersections between forms or systems of oppression, domination or discrimination (Garneau, 2015). Some authors refer to these as “interlocking systems of oppression” (Pease, 2009). It was developed and introduced to mainstream political and academic debate by second-wave feminism, particularly Black Marxist, and radical feminists. The probably most well-known theorist of intersectionality is Kimberlé Crenshaw (Garneau, 2015). Theories of intersectionality are concerned particularly with “the interplay of race, class and gender and the way this results in multiple dimensions of disadvantage” (Macionis & Gerber, cited by Garneau, 2015).

Answer 32

An intersectional model recognises that different oppressions are distinct, but acknowledges that they are interrelated and mutually reinforcing. No one form of oppression can be addressed on its own. Different forms of privilege intersect with each other AND with other forms of oppression. Many authors write about the importance of exploring the interconnection between different forms of oppression, However, we have yet to be able to explain exactly how different forms of oppression interact. Pease (2009)

Answer 33

The effects of race, class and gender etc. cannot simply be added on to one another to make sense of people’s lives. BUT they interact in complex ways. E.g. if someone is a lower-income woman from a non-English speaking background, this person is not likely to experience the single negative effects of being female, migrant or on a lower income. Rather, her experience is an outcome of the interrelationship between these different dimensions of her life as well as her individual preferences and inclinations. Pease (2009)

Answer 34

We should be careful not to suggest that any one system of domination is more important than another, AND we need to look at people’s particular circumstances. This is because in different historical contexts, settings or situations, One (dis)advantage may be more visible and/or dramatic than another; We may be more aware of one (dis)advantage than another.

Answer 35

Mostly focussed on intersections of oppression. Other uses include analyse of: Positions of both privilege and oppression, The multi-privileged. Many people experience both oppression and privilege; Not all men, for example benefit equally from patriarchy; Not all white persons benefit equally from racism; Most people cannot be categorised solely as privileged or oppressed; they may have access to some forms of privilege and not others.

Answer 36

Different dimensions of privilege and oppression can be more easily revealed through an intersectional analysis. In most people’s thinking about oppression, people are either privileged or subordinated, and they ignore complexities and contradictions. This can lead to the tendency to excuse abusive practices by oppressed groups and, consequently, diminish their responsibility to address it. Groups who are oppressed in one dimension need to acknowledge their complicity with relations of domination and subordination in another.

Answer 37

Diversity and difference within privileged groups are complex. For example: Challenging white privilege doesn’t always acknowledge hierarchies within whiteness. Confronting the white domination within a workplace - require recognition of the fact that white workers also belong to subordinate groups Intersectional analysis Deals with complexity Acknowledges heirarchies in privileged groups.

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