Oppression

Oppression

47-204 Issues and Perspectives in Social WelfareFALL 2010

Oppression

• Structural social work contends that oppression is the basis of all social problems

• Most structural social work carried out with or on behalf of oppressed groups

• So, before we can talk about how structural social workers practice, we need to understand how structural social workers think about oppression

Nature of oppression

• 1) Group based

• 2) Relational

• 3) Not accidental

Group based• Frustrations, restrictions, hardships experienced by individuals because of

their membership in a particular group or category of people

• Converse of oppression is privilege (advantages individuals experience because of their group membership)

• BOTH oppression and privilege are based on group membership

– Thus, we are all a part of oppressive systems, either as members of oppressed groups or privileged groups…

– …whether or not we as individuals want to be (or acknowledge the ways in which we are privileged and/or oppressed)*

*however, our individual actions can either reinforce these systems or challenge them, more about this later

Group based• However, not all kinds of groups in society are necessarily oppressed or

privileged

– Ex: people who own cars vs. people who own trucks, people with brown eyes vs. people with green eyes, dog people vs. cat people, etc.

– Oppression and privilege result from the social meanings that we

ascribe to certain different groups (and their members) that dictate one group as superior to another

• Nor do all oppressed (or privileged) groups necessarily experience oppression (or privilege) in the same way

• Intersectionality = most of us experience oppression based on some of our groups memberships but privilege based on others

Relational• Oppression happens not just when there are different groups in society, but

when one of those groups (the “dominant group”) has positions of power, resources, and privilege that are used to maintain their dominant position at the expense of other “subordinate” (oppressed) groups

• Not all members of the dominant group necessarily support the oppression of subordinate groups, however, they do all directly benefit from these relations

– Example: I, as an individual heterosexual person in the United States, may be in favor of gay marriage and actively working to ensure the equal rights of all people to marry…

– However, at the same time, I cannot deny that I (as a heterosexual person who has chosen to get married) has benefited from the rights and privileges extended to me by the legal system of “marriage” (rights and privileges that this system explicitly denies to gays and lesbian couples)

Not accidental• Oppressive social structures have a purpose- they are not accidental

• Purpose? Maintaining the “status quo” and reinforcing the position of those who are in the dominant group

• Oppressive acts cannot be understood in isolation-they work together to create systematic barriers that limit the freedoms and opportunities of subordinate groups

– Marilyn Frye: analogy of the bird cage

Myths which perpetuate oppression

• Myth of scarcity: not enough to go around, so inequalities are inevitable

• Myth of might makes right: majority should rule, “majority rules” is a fair and equitable system

• Myth of objective information: there is an objective world and the knowledge we have about it represents “truth”

• Stereotyping: all members of groups are the same

Myths which perpetuate oppression

• Blaming the victim: people are responsible for their own destinies (and failures)

• Competition and hierarchy: humans are competitive by nature, competition is a good (and fair) thing

• Myth of supremacy: some groups are simply “better than” others and, therefore, should be deserving of more

• Myth of class: social classes are the result of hard work and individual effort; most people are middle class, and those who are worked hard to get there (therefore, poor people and working class people simply haven’t worked hard enough)

Oppression and social justice• Most definitions of social justice focus on distributive (or re-distributive)

justice

• Distributive justice =

– Focus on the ways that resources, privileges, rights, etc. are distributed in a society

– Seeks to “re-distribute” these resources in a more equitable way

• Social justice is achieved by the equalizing of resources (rights, privileges, etc.) that result from this re-distribution

• Social “injustice” is the monopoly or dominance of these resources, rights, privileges, by one group in society

Problems with (re)distributive justice• 1) Ignores the social processes and practices which caused the inequality in the

first place

– Simply redistributing resources is short sighted and does not fundamentally alter the systematic arrangements and relationships which resulted in the inequality

• 2) Limits to (re) distribution of non-materials things (e.g. rights, opportunities, etc.)

– Rights and privileges are not the same as material resources (money, food, shelter, etc.)

– People may be given “rights” and “opportunities” but may be unable to exercise them due to social constraints (race, class, gender, etc.)

Re-envisioning social justice• To end oppression, need to move beyond (re)distributive models of social

justice….need to focus on procedural issues of participation and decision making

• Society is “just” only if it contains and supports the “institutional conditions necessary for the promotion of the universal value that everyone is of intrinsic worth” (pg. 258)

– Social norms would be just only if the people who follow them had a say in their acceptance

– Social conditions would be just only if they enabled all people to meet their needs and exercise freedoms

– Social processes would be just only if they were inclusive and all groups had a voice

– Social practices would be just only if they were in accordance with how people would like to themselves be treated

Levels of oppression• Oppression occurs at three (inter-related, interactive, and mutually

reinforcing) levels (pg. 262):

– Personal– Cultural– Structural

• 1) Personal level:

– “thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors that depict a negative pre-judgment of a particular subordinate group”

– Usually based on stereotypes, can be either covert or overt

Levels of oppression• 2) Cultural level:

– “values, norms, and shared patterns of thinking and acting, along with an assumed consensus about what is right and normal that, taken together, endorse a belief in a superior culture”

– Presents dominant culture as the “norm” and all else as deficient

• 3) Structural level:

– means by which oppression is institutionalized in society

– Ways in which “social institutions, laws, policies, and social processes and practices all work together primarily in favor of the dominant group at the expense of the subordinate group”

Intersectionality and oppression• Most of us are oppressed in some ways and privileged in others based on

different aspects of our identities

• We tend to focus on our own experiences of oppression without acknowledging the ways in which we benefit from privilege in other areas

• Thus, we are often aware of (and want to challenge) our oppression but are unaware of (or want to preserve) our privilege

• “The net effect of defending those parts of our identity that give us relatively favorable treatment in society while contributing to the oppression of others is to keep the whole system of oppression in place” (pg. 264)

Forms of oppression• 1)Exploitation

• 2) Marginalization

• 3) Powerlessness

• 4) Cultural imperialism

• 5) Violence

• Not all oppressed groups experience all five, nor do they experience each in the same way or to the same degree

Forms of oppression• 1) Exploitation:

• Dominant group is able to maintain position of power and privilege by exploiting the labor of subordinate groups

• Social rules about…

– what work is, – who works for whom, – how work is to be compensated, – how the results of work are to be distributed and used

• …all systematically reproduce relations of power and inequality

Forms of oppression• 2) Marginalization:

• When subordinate groups are confined to the “margins” of society and denied opportunities for full and active participation in society

• Dangerous because it denies people meaningful participation in society which may contributes to social and material deprivation

• Not limited to material (economic) exclusion, but also occurs whenever people “cannot exercise their capacities in socially defined and recognized ways” (pg. 266)

Forms of oppression• 3) Powerlessness:

– Lack of meaningful decision making power; barriers to developing one’s full capacity and autonomy

• 4) Cultural imperialism:

– Dominant group universalizes its experiences and culture and uses them as the “norm”

– Culture and experiences of the dominant group provide the foundation for all aspects of society (media, law, education, etc.)

– Other groups constructed as “deviant”, “inferior”, or “other”

Forms of oppression• 5) Violence

• Goes beyond the actual occurrence of violence against oppressed groups

• Includes the perpetual fear that violence may occur based on one’s social identity (which, in turn, limits one’s freedom of movement and ability to fully participate in society)

• Violence is structural in nature, in that:

– It is tolerated, accepted, or found unsurprising by members of the dominant group

– When perpetrators receive light (or no) punishment

Oppression as structural violence• Mullaly (2007) argues that calling oppression “social or structural inequality” is

problematic because it conceals the fact that these inequalities have violent consequences and correlates

– “Structural oppression is a form of violence because it negatively affects human growth and development, it interferes with the inherent potential of individuals, it limits productive and healthy living, and it brings about premature death” (pg. 271)

– “Violence is any relation, process, or condition by which an individual or group violates the physical, social, and/or psychological integrity of another person or group” (pg. 271)

• Thus, Mullaly argues that it is more accurate to refer to oppression as “structural violence” than “structural inequality”

Structural violence• Key areas in which structural inequalities contribute to structural violence

(pp.271-274)

• Discrimination in:

– Housing market

– Retail market

– Labor market

– Education system

– Health care system

Responses to oppression

• Two broad categories of responses that oppressed people may have in response to their oppression (pg. 276):

– 1) “accommodation and compliance through a process of inferiorization” (internalized oppression)

– 2) “rejection through a process of collective resistance and a politics of difference”

Inferiorization• When individuals “internalize” the oppressive messages about their group

that are perpetuated by the dominant group

• Result? Individuals in subordinate groups will act in ways which reinforce their own oppression (internalized oppression)

• Possible consequences of internalized oppression:

– Fatalism (“there is nothing that I can do”)

– Horizontal violence (when people in oppressed groups act in violent or oppressive ways towards other people who are oppressed)

Inferiorization• 7 common responses (pg. 277-279):

– 1) Mimesis

– 2)Escape from identity

– 3)Psychological withdrawal

– 4)Guilt-expiation rituals

– 5)Magical ideologies

– 6)In group hostilities

– 7) Social withdrawal

Inferiorization• 1) Mimesis:

– Person begins to mimic or imitate the behaviors and attitudes of the dominant group in an attempt to gain more privilege and acceptance by the dominant group (“borrowed status”)

• 2)Escape from identity:

– Person attempts to change their identity and move to a different social category

– Example: Jews converting to Christianity, gays and lesbians who enter into heterosexual marriages, individuals trying to “pass” as members of the dominant groups

Inferiorization• 3) Psychological withdrawal:

– Person attempts to decrease their visibility by distancing themselves from behaviors or attributes which “mark” them as other

• 4) Guilt-expiation rituals:

– Person internalizes that they are “bad” and attempts to atone for their difference

– Example: Gays and lesbians who undergo “aversion” therapies or attempts to change their homosexual identity

Inferiorization• 5) Magical ideologies:

– Appeals to someone or something else to “fix” what is wrong

• 6) In-group hostility:

– The creation of inferior relationships among people within oppressed groups that mimic the relations between dominant and oppressed groups in society (“poor person’s snobbery”)

• 7) Social withdrawal:

– When people withdraw from the dominant group and seek refuge within the subordinate group; may behave differently when in the dominant group and only behave authentically when in the protective environment of one’s own culture

Resistance to oppression

• 1) Assimilation

• 2) Multiculturalism

• 3) Politics of difference

Assimilation• Everyone would “assimilate” into one common culture (integration)

• Ignoring and erasing group differences (thus, by extension, erasing oppression based on group differences)

• Problems?

– Requires subordinate groups to “assimilate” into the dominant group (thus reinforcing the notion that the subordinate groups are inferior)

– Subordinate group assimilating into a culture and institutional arrangements in which they had no say in creating

– Reinforces the privilege of the dominant group by upholding it as the universal group for all

Multiculturalism• Cultural pluralism

• Celebration of cultural differences

• Problems?

– Ignores the reality that there is still one dominant culture

– Does not account for power and privilege

– Leads to cultural sensitivity = color (cultural) blindness = does not acknowledge (or challenge) historical oppression

Politics of difference• Rather than seeking to transcend or celebrate difference, seeks:

– “equality among all socially and culturally differentiated groups, where mutual respect and affirmation of one another in their differences would occur. Group differences are considered positive and desirable rather than a liability or disadvantage or simply a fact” (pg. 282)

• Recognizes and promotes group autonomy and separation (for subordinate groups) as essential for empowerment

• Focuses not only on groups’ interactions with each other but also their interactions with social structures and institutions

Politics of difference• Would promote institutionalized mechanisms and public resources

supporting:

• 1) Self organization of subordinate groups for empowerment

• 2) Generation of decision making processes where decision makers are obligated to demonstrate that they have taken relevant group perspectives into consideration

• 3) Group veto power for policies that specifically affect one particular group directly

Implications for structural social work

• An understanding of oppression has several implications for structural social work:

• 1) Recognizing the limits of the (re)distributive model of justice will direct us to look for more structural solutions which deal with the causes (not just the effects) of oppression

• 2) Understanding the systematic nature of oppression helps us to avoid “blaming the victim”

• 3) Only an awareness of the way that oppression is reproduced in everyday life will lead to structural solutions

Implications for structural social work

• 4) Understanding oppression will help social workers to engage more meaningfully with the people we serve in consciousness raising and normalization activities

• 5) Understanding oppression will help social workers at the micro level better understand the ways in which individuals react to (and/or cope with) their experiences of oppression

• 6) Understanding the politics of difference will help social workers support group-specific organizations and efforts at self empowerment