Oppression

47-204 Issues and Perspectives in Social Welfare

FALL 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