Module 4: Lecture: Oppression as a Constitutive Element
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Oppression in the Context of Social Justice
In a social justice context, oppression occurs when individuals or groups of people are discriminated against or treated unfairly, whether by the government, private organizations, individuals, or other groups (Head, 2021). The word comes from the Latin root opprimere, meaning pressed down. There are multiple forms of oppression linked to social justice. The twelve main ones are highlighted here. The categories describe patterns of behavior and not necessarily belief systems. A person can have strong beliefs in favor of social equality and still practice oppression through their actions. In many cases, these categories of oppression overlap so that a person can potentially deal with multiple forms of oppression and privilege at the same time. The experience of multiple and different forms of oppression is described by the term “intersectionality” (Head, 2021).
Intersectionality
Intersectionality is about the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender, seen as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage (Oxford Dictionary).
Intersectionality is a framework for conceptualizing a person, group of people, or social problem affected by various discriminations and disadvantages. It considers people’s overlapping identities and experiences to understand the complexity of the prejudices they face. Intersectionality recognizes that identity markers (e.g., “woman” and “black”) do not exist independently of each other and that each informs the others, often creating a complex convergence of oppression. In other words, intersectional theory affirms that people are often disadvantaged by multiple sources of oppression: their race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, and other identity markers.
Kimberlé Crenshaw (1989) first coined the term intersectionality. However, the theory emerged two decades earlier, when black feminists began to talk about the white, middle-class nature of the mainstream feminist movement.
Today, intersectionality is seen as crucial to social equity work. Activists and community organizations are calling for and engaging in more dynamic conversations about the differences in experience among people with different overlapping identities. Without an intersectional lens, events and movements that aim to address injustice toward one group may perpetuate systems of inequities toward other groups.
Contemporary Manifestations of Oppression
Oppression manifests itself in many ways.
| Table 1: Manifestation of Oppression | |
| Term | Description |
| Sexism | Sexism, or the belief that men are superior to women based on sex, has been an almost universal condition of civilization. Whether rooted in biology or culture, sexism forces women into subordinate and restrictive roles and forces men into dominant and competitive roles (Head, 2021). |
| Heterosexism | Heterosexism describes the pattern in which people are assumed to be heterosexual (sexually attracted to people of a sex other than their own). Since not everyone is heterosexual, values to the contrary (homosexualism) can be punished by ridicule, restriction of partner rights, discrimination, arrest, and even death (Head, 2021). |
|
Cisgenerationalism or cisnormativity |
Cisgender refers to people whose gender identity is typically associated with their sex at birth. Cisgenderism or cisnormativity is a form of oppression that assumes that everyone assigned to male at birth exists as male. Everyone who is assigned female at birth exists as female. Cisgenderism discriminates against and disregards people who do not identify with their assigned sex at birth and the gender roles associated with them or those who do not have clearly defined or binary gender roles (binary transgender people or non-binary transgender people) (Badillo, 2021). |
| Classism | Classism is a social pattern in which wealthy or influential people congregate among themselves and oppress those who are less wealthy or influential. Classism also sets rules about whether and under what circumstances members of one class can cross over into another class, for example, through marriage or work (Liu, 2013). |
| Racism | Racism has prevailed throughout human history as a justification for a series of oppressive actions (Bishop, 2018). While intolerance means intransigence towards people of other races and religions, racism assumes that people of other races are, in fact, genetically inferior human beings. Racism acts on this belief with political, systemic, social, and institutional power. Power is necessary to put racism into practice. Without it, beliefs of genetic inferiority are prejudiced. |
| Colorism | Colorism is not the same as racism, but the two tend to go hand in hand (Greenidge, 2019). Colorism is a social pattern in which people are treated differently based on the amount of visible melanin in their skin. Several studies show that lighter-skinned black or Latino Americans receive preferential treatment over their darker-skinned counterparts. |
| Capacitism | Capacitism is a social pattern in which people with disabilities are treated differently, to an unnecessary degree, than those who are not. This could take the form of not accommodating people with physical or mental disabilities or treating them as if they cannot live without assistance (Head, 2021). |
| Conception of beauty | The conception of beauty is a social pattern in which people whose faces and bodies conform to social ideals are treated differently from people whose faces and bodies do not. Beauty standards vary from one culture to another culture, but almost all human societies have them (Monar, 2009). |
| Sizeism/Gordophobia | Size or fatphobia is a social pattern in which people whose bodies conform to social ideals are treated differently from people whose bodies do not. In contemporary Western society, people with a thin build are generally considered more attractive than heavy people (Monar, 2021). |
| Age | Ageism is a social pattern in which people of a certain chronological age are treated differently, to an unnecessary degree, than those who are not. An example is Hollywood’s unspoken “expiration date” for women, a date beyond which it is difficult to get a job because a person is no longer considered young and/or attractive (Monar, 2021). |
| Nativism | Nativism is a social pattern in which people who are born in a given country are treated differently from those who migrate to it for the benefit of the natives (Monar, 2021). |
| Colonialism | Colonialism is a social pattern in which people born in a given country are treated differently from those who immigrate to it, usually to benefit a specific identifiable group of powerful immigrants. This involves a process of powerful immigrants taking over the country and holistically exploiting its resources (Monar, 2021). |
Relationship between Oppression and Social Justice in Current Social Policies
Social change remains the common thread that must be used to build new realities. Social change can often be more effective by starting at the community level and then branching out into macro-systems.
Macrosystems include influences from government policies, corporations, and belief systems. To this end, it is critical to have a firm understanding of the dynamics that challenge communities. This understanding must extend to dealing with some of the most unjust practices, such as oppression and power, that have influenced and shaped many communities today, particularly where the members are people in a vulnerable state. It is important to note that oppression is the social act of imposing severe restrictions on an individual, group, or institution.
Furthermore, oppression is often discussed in the same context as the terms “dehumanization” and “exploitation.” These are terms that portray injustice and cruelty (Harrison, 2015).
Why Does Oppression Exist?
Oppression occurs when individuals are systematically subjected to political, economic, cultural, or social degradation because they belong to a certain social group, resulting in structures of domination and subordination and, consequently, ideologies of superiority and inferiority. Usually, a government or political organization in power formally or covertly imposes restrictions on groups so that the distribution of resources is unfairly allocated. This means that power remains in the hands of those who already have it.
The “Western world” is a production of coloniality and modernity. These terms refer to the socio-cultural norms developed after the 18th century and the chapter in European history known as the Enlightenment. It is loosely defined by industrialization, science, division of labor, capitalism, secularism, education, and liberalism (Smith, 1999). Western modernity created and constructed the idea of “race” as a biological function, as part of a narrative to indicate the superiority of the white race and the inferiority of all other races (peoples).
What is Power?
Power is a concept that has come to possess numerous meanings for different individuals. Power is multifaceted and takes several forms: power over, too, and from (Kloos et al., 2012). Power over is the ability to compel or dominate others, control resources, and enforce commands. Power is the ability of individuals to pursue personal and collective goals and develop their capabilities. Power over is the ability to resist coercion and unwanted commands or demands.
Much of the conversation about power has been through the lens of empowerment (Riger, 1993; Rappaport, 1981; Rappaport, 1987). Rappaport (1981) proposed empowerment as a phenomenon of interest to the field, asserting the need for a distinction between real power (i.e., political empowerment) and perceived power (i.e., psychological empowerment).
Furthermore, empowerment is understood as an individualistic concept that needs to incorporate social power. These theorists have conceptualized empowerment as a manifestation of social power and propose three instruments for its implementation. First, it is having control over resources to be used to reward and punish various people. Second is the ability to control barriers to participation by defining what is discussed and how it is discussed. An example is expert power, which is based on a person’s or group’s “perceived knowledge, skill, or expertise” (Kloos et al., 2012). Third, it is a force that shapes shared consciousness through myths, ideology, and information control.
Strategies for Action: Implementation of Appropriate Social Policies
Social policy concerns societies worldwide to meet human needs for security, education, work, health, and welfare (Black, 1997). Community psychologists endorse a social justice and critical psychology perspective. The position is to challenge and address oppressive systems through various action strategies, including implementing social policy.
The social policy addresses how states and societies respond to the global challenges of social, demographic, and economic change, poverty, migration, and globalization. Social policy analyzes the different roles of national governments, the family, civil society, the market, and international organizations in providing services and support throughout life, from childhood to the elderly. These services include support for children and families, schooling and education, housing and neighborhood renewal, income maintenance and poverty reduction, unemployment support and training, pensions, health, and social care. Social policy aims to identify and reduce inequalities in access to services and support between social groups defined by socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, migration status, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, and between countries.
Social Policy is Explicitly International, Interdisciplinary, and Applied
- International: explicitly addresses social and public policies from the perspective of advanced welfare systems and developing countries. It pays close attention to the different configurations of public policy actors (state, family, market, civil society) involved in providing social welfare in different contexts.
- Interdisciplinary: implies a broad interdisciplinary understanding of the conditions, institutions, and mechanisms of social change, drawing on the perspectives of anthropology, criminology, demography, economics, political science, sociology, and development.
- Applied: emphasizes the analytical and conceptual skills needed to interrogate social problems, analyze how social policies are implemented, and evaluate social policies. The consequences (positive and negative) of those policies are in various issue areas and high-, middle-, and low-income country contexts.
Dismantling Oppression and Power through Social Policies
Working social policy from a perspective grounded in anti-oppressive principles provides an approach that begins to match the complex issues of power, oppression, and powerlessness that shape recipients’ lives of social care services. The driving force behind the anti-oppressive practice is the act of challenging inequalities. In that sense, the process of challenge creates social policies aimed at eradicating disparities. Challenges are not always successful and are often painful for the person or group being challenged or challenged.
Social policy based on anti-oppressive practice aspires to provide appropriate and responsive services that are needs-driven rather than resource-driven. This type of social policy must embody a person-centered philosophy; an egalitarian value system concerned with reducing the harmful effects of structural inequalities on people’s lives; a methodology focused on both process and outcomes; and a way of structuring relationships between individuals that aims to empower users by reducing the negative effects of social hierarchies on their interaction and the work they do together (Dominelli 1994). A challenge, at best, involves changes at the macro and micro levels.
Social policy interventions include policies that affect the social conditions in which people live. The following are examples of social policies that are appropriate for dismantling oppression to improve human welfare and meet human needs (Freeman, 1997):
- Economic policy aimed at cash assistance to the poor.
- Policies involving access to abortion or laws governing marriage and divorce regulate and govern human behavior in areas such as sexuality and morality.
- Pension and social insurance programs for industrial workers and the needy.
- More inclusive systems of public education.
- Benefits for elderly veterans and their families.
- Social benefits for women and their children.
- Social Security Law.
- Health care programs (Medicare and Medicaid).
- Food Stamp Program
- Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
- Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
- Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
- An affirmative action policy was created to eradicate discriminatory practices and to ensure
equal opportunities, generally to higher education and employment
The Social Worker as an Anti-oppression Agent
Social workers are well-positioned to make theoretically informed, holistic, empowering, and challenging assessments. Intervention based on anti-oppressive practice incorporates an analysis of the risks and needs of individuals in a vulnerable state. To work effectively, it is important to have a perspective that:
- is flexible without losing focus;
- includes the views of oppressed individuals and groups;
- is theoretically informed;
- challenge and change existing ideas and practices;
- can analyze the oppressive nature of the organizational culture and its impact on practice
- includes continuous reflection and evaluation of practice;
- has multidimensional change strategies that incorporate the concepts of networking, user involvement, partnership, and participation; and
- has a critical analysis of power issues, both personal and structural.
Service users, practitioners, students, and academics continue to grapple with ways of addressing issues of oppression in health and social care provision. The anti-oppressive practice then moves beyond descriptions of the nature of oppression to dynamic and creative ways of working. The principles of reflexivity, social difference, historical and geographical location, the personal as political, power and powerlessness, and the act of challenging provide a framework that can be used to dismantle oppression in the settings of people in need (Jason et al., 2019).
References
Pathologies of Power. (2005). Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor. University
of California Press.
Pérez-Garzón, C. A. (January 2018). Unveiling the meaning of social justice. Mexican Law Review, 10(2) 27-66.
Thompson, N. (2002). Social movements, social justice, and social work. The British Journal of Social Work, 32(6) 711–72
