Privilege, power, and difference

Description

This brief book is a groundbreaking tool for students and non-students alike to examine systems of privilege and difference in our society. Written in an accessible, conversational style, it links theory with engaging examples in ways that enable readers to see the underlying nature and consequences of privilege and their connection to it. This extraordinarily successful book has been used across the country, both inside and outside the classroom, to shed light on issues of power and privilege. (from the publisher) The new third edition has been thoroughly updated, from the Obama presidency, same-sex marriage, the Occupy Movement, and Black Lives Matter to the election of Donald Trump. It includes a fifty percent increase in source citations (for the skeptical reader), a new glossary, and an epilogue that explores how conflicting worldviews can make issues of privilege and oppression so difficult to deal with. About the Author vii Introduction ix Chapter 1 We’re in Trouble 1 The Trouble We’re In 5 Chapter 2 Privilege, Oppression, and Difference 12 Difference Is Not the Problem 12 Mapping Difference: Who Are We? 13 The Social Construction of Difference 17 What Is Privilege? 20 Two Types of Privilege 21 Privilege as Paradox 23 Oppression: The Flip Side of Privilege 32 Chapter 3 Capitalism, Class, and the Matrix of Domination 35 How Capitalism Works 36 Capitalism and Class 39 Capitalism, Difference, and Privilege: Race and Gender 40 The Matrix of Domination and the Paradox of Being Privileged and Oppressed At the Same Time 44 Chapter 4 Making Privilege and Oppression Happen 47 Avoidance, Exclusion, Rejection, and Worse 49 A Problem for Whom? 53 Page iv And That’s Not All 56 We Cannot Heal Until the Wounding Stops 59 Chapter 5 The Trouble with the Trouble 60 Chapter 6 What It Has to Do with Us 66 Individualism: Or, the Myth That Everything Bad Is Somebody’s Fault 66 Individuals, Systems, and Paths of Least Resistance 68 What It Means to Be Involved in Privilege and Oppression 72 Chapter 7 How Systems of Privilege Work 76 Dominance and Control 76 Identified with Privilege 80 The Center of Attention 84 The Isms 88 The Isms and Us 90 Chapter 8 Getting Off the Hook: Denial and Resistance 92 Deny and Minimize 92 Blame the Victim 94 Call It Something Else 95 It’s Better This Way 95 It Doesn’t Count If You Don’t Mean It 96 I’m One of the Good Ones 99 Not My Job 102 Sick and Tired 103 Getting Off the Hook by Getting On 105 Chapter 9 What Can We Do? 107 Page v The Myth That It’s Always Been This Way, and Always Will 108 Gandhi’s Paradox and The Myth of No Effect 110 Stubborn Ounces: What Can We Do? 114 Epilogue: A Worldview Is Hard to Change 135 Acknowledgments 142 Glossary 144 Notes 151 Resources 169 Credits 182 Index 183